A Little Late
by Ginzuishou1
Summary: What if Tuxedo Kamen had shown up a little later in ep. 40 (1st season, hot springs ep.) and Usagi was forced to transform in front of him and her family? Complete!
1. A Few Seconds

So this is an idea that's been swimming around in my head for years. What if Tuxedo Kamen had been a little bit later in episode 40 (First season, the episode where Usagi's family goes to the hot springs) and both he and Usagi's family saw her transform into Sailor Moon? I don't answer all of the questions, but I think I had a little bit of fun writing this. It's just been sitting there waiting to be written and I needed to do some writing today. Who knows, if I get enough of a response, maybe I'll write more.

**A Little Late**

**Chapter 1/?**

Usagi had really had a good feeling about this trip, really she had. Her family, alone in the mountains, no Luna, no Senshi business. How could this have been anything but a God send? She really should have known something was wrong when she spotted Mamoru-_Endymion_-standing at the edge of the lake, still not recognizing her, still acting as cold as the youma he would inevitably send to try and destroy her.

But the day was a good day. Usagi spent it with her family, enjoying the lake and the hot springs, joking and annoying Shingo, laughing with her mother, teasing her father a little. It was nice to get away from the stress of the everyday life she now led. Her worries were behind her, left back in Tokyo with a letter to Luna and some cat food. Hopefully the girls wouldn't mind too much that she was also skipping out on a meeting and some training for this.

So when the youma appeared, she really shouldn't have been as surprised as she was.

Kenji was trying so hard to protect them, but what could he do with a stick? Usagi watched, worried from the sidelines as the youma grabbed her father by the throat and held him to a nearby tree. She really only had one choice. There were no other Senshi around. There was only her and her family. Usagi warred with herself for only a second and in the end there was nothing that would stop her from doing what had to be done.

"Moon Prism Power! Make Up!"

Her family heard the unfamiliar English words and looked in fascination and growing horror as their daughter was bathed in light and ribbons. In front of their eyes the child Usagi was no more, their daughter was gone, and Sailor Moon replaced her.

Standing nearby, waiting to reel in his awakened monstrosity, was Tuxedo Kamen. He, too, was in awe of this slip of a girl's transformation and watched as she took her position of power between her family and the youma he had conjured. He was speechless, and waited patiently for her to start the dance, or to notice that he had seen her.

"Put him down!" Sailor Moon commanded, not seeing Tuxedo Kamen as she was too focused on her family.

The youma, who had also taken note of Sailor Moon's transformation, did as commanded and went back to looking at her original target. Kenji coughed a few times, grabbing at his throat. Seeing the opportunity, he scampered away from the monster, back to where his wife and son were, to the protection his daughter was offering. "Give him back!" it demanded, as it had been doing before.

"I don't know what you want, but for attacking my family, and ruining our vacation, you're going to pay! For love and justice, a pretty girl soldier in a sailor suit, Sailor Moon! In the name of the moon, I will punish you!" Sailor Moon finished with a flourish, anger clearly evident on her face.

And now, the hard part. Sailor Moon turned to her family, her family who looked so confused, so worried, and so frightened, but all Sailor Moon could do was yell to them. "Run! Get back up to the inn and lock the doors! I'll be back soon, I promise!"

"Usagi-" Ikuko started, but was cut off.

"You'll get hurt, mama! Please," Sailor Moon begged, "run!"

Seeing Sailor Moon with her back turned, the youma saw this as its chance. It gave a roar and lost patience with its target and lunged forward towards Sailor Moon, ready to destroy her for its imagined slight.

Taking his cue, Tuxedo Kamen flicked his wrist and unleashed a rose as dark as night between Sailor Moon and the awakened spirit, separating the two in a crackle of energy.

Sailor Moon turned quickly, her heart fluttering in the way that only he could make happen. As it did every time she saw him, such as earlier that day at the lake side. "Tuxedo Kamen…you saved me again."

"I won't let innocent people get hurt in my quest for the ginzuishou, Sailor Moon. You know this." His voice was smooth, but dead and emotionless, as it had been for some time now. There was an underlying threat in his words, too, that somehow if _she_ were to get hurt that would be just another hazard of the job.

Sailor Moon, who noticed that her family was still hanging around just a little further back, tried to not look crushed. "Let's just beat this thing."

"Give him back!" the creature once again roared, swinging her mighty tail towards the newly arrived Tuxedo Kamen, who wasn't able to duck away in time, getting the full brunt of the thick appendage.

He slowly got up, and Sailor Moon ran forward, ducking as the tail came her way. She reached Tuxedo Kamen's side, but he waved her off and grit his teeth. "Just attack it, Sailor Moon!"

They dodged another swipe of the tail and Sailor Moon reached for her tiara. From behind her she heard her mother yell for her, but she had to push that to the back of her head. She couldn't concentrate on anyone else right now because if she did she'd only worry about them and if they were safe, not winning this battle and the world. She clenched her jaw and decided she was really mad at them for staying.

"Moon Tiara Action!"

With a flick of her wrist the tiara went sailing towards the youma, and it appeared to work. Sailor Moon was ready to do a victory lap, kiss Tuxedo Kamen, run from her parents, pat herself on the back. All these and more because she had done this almost solely on her own. But the youma, which had surely been dust just moments before reformed and was now, if possible, even madder.

"Oh. Shit," Sailor Moon said, dodging it's now frendizied attacks. "What do we do now?" she called out to Tuxedo Kamen, who was equally busy not being bludgeoned to death.

Before he had time to answer, a familiar voice rang through the forest.

"Crescent Beam!"

Sailor Moon decided that this was the second most opportune time she had ever heard Venus' voice. The first being when they had met her and she had saved them all at that point, too. The Crescent Beam cut the youma across the back, riling it up even more, but stopping it from attacking long enough for Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen to get out of its range.

Sailors Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, and Venus were all there, lined up and ready to fight. Sailor Moon rushed forward to join her sisters, glad to have them. Tuxedo Kamen hung back, knowing what awaited him if he got too close to any Senshi other than Sailor Moon. But, for the moment, they were cooperating.

Sailor Venus glanced over her shoulder and saw the Tsukinos hovering the background looking worried. She sent Sailor Moon a puzzled look and dropped her voice. "Sailor Moon, what are they still doing here?"

"I tried to get them to leave! It's a mess, V-chan," Sailor Moon whispered back.

"How big of a mess?"

"What do we have here?" Sailor Jupiter asked, sizing up her prey.

"I thought it was your standard youma, but when I just used my tiara it went to pieces and came back together," Sailor Moon explained. "I don't get it!" she half-wailed, half-whined. "Mercury, why did that happen?"

Sailor Mercury tapped her earring and opened her computer, analyzing the creature before her. "That's strange…I can find no weak point on it, but it's definitely a youma."

Sailor Mars stepped forward and narrowed her eyes. "Yes, it's a youma, and while there's ill will and malice, mostly jealousy, in it, I don't sense anything from the Dark Kingdom."

"That's because it isn't from the Dark Kingdom," Tuxedo Kamen said from the other side of the clearing.

"Want to run that by us again?" Jupiter asked.

"I tracked a dark energy source to the lake and awoke the power beneath it," he explained. "Clearly this is not a power I could control."

"Clearly," Venus clipped. "Sailor Moon, try the Moon Stick."

Dutifully, and with her heart beating a little too fast, Sailor Moon pulled out the Moon Stick from her sub-space pocket. It always made her nervous to have the ginzuishou so close to Tuxedo Kamen when she knew he wanted it. She was afraid one day he would go back on his gentle ways and simply kill her to get what he wanted. That the last shred of decency that was in him would fade. For now, she just had to hope.

"Moon Healing Escalation!"

After they watched the spirit of the young woman ascend to heaven as she should have so many years ago, a great weight came crashing down on to Sailor Moon.

"Sailor Moon…or is it Usagi?" Tuxedo Kamen said in his suave, dark voice with a little chuckle at the end. "Usagi, I like that." Everyone was rooted to their spot, unsure of how to react to this new information. Sailor Moon's eyes were wide in terror because he hadn't stepped in to the fight until later on, she was certain he hadn't seen her transform, but oh, how wrong she had been. "Usagi, are you going to give me the ginzuishou, or are we going to have to play games for it?"

The Senshi formed ranks around Sailor Moon, blocking her from his view.

"I don't know what you think you know, you sniveling traitor," Sailor Jupiter said, "but you aren't going to touch one hair on Sailor Moon's head."

"If she hands over the ginzuishou, I won't have to."

"Tuxedo Kamen, why? You weren't like this before," Sailor Moon pleaded. "You were like us, you fought with us, not against us. Please, can't you remember that time, that place? The Silver Millennium, the Starlight Tower? All of those times we fought at the arcade…"

But he sat, as stony faced as ever as tears began to roll down the princess' face. He took a step forward and each of the Senshi moved into attack stance. "I'm outnumbered, I'm not stupid, Sailor Senshi. I supposed soon enough I'll know who all of you are, too. I doubt you leave your princess unguarded when you aren't transformed, though you did today and look at what it got you? You'll have to leave her unguarded again sometime." He smiled cruelly, the way one does when they know a certainty. "I'll be waiting for that time."

With a flourish of his cape he disappeared back into the recesses of the Dark Kingdom.

"Usagi?"

The girls dropped their guard when they heard the tentative, trembling sound come from Ikuko's mouth. She was pale and shaking, as though she had just been in a serious car accident or and equal trauma. Though finding out that your daughter was the hero and protector of Tokyo might certainly be classified as a trauma. Kenji had bruising around his throat and was looking around rather uncomfortably, not sure how to handle the situation. Shingo looked shocked, as though the coolest girl in the world being his sister was not only not supposed to happen, it was quite possibly a sign of Armageddon.

"Usagi, is that really you? My little Usagi?"

The Moon Stick disappeared and the Senshi took several steps back in realization of what had transpired. They had all known that this could happen at some point, they had all prepared for it to some length. But now that it was occurring, and had also occurred in regards to their enemy, they could safely say they weren't prepared for it at all.

Ikuko walked forward and took Usagi's gloved hand in her own, checking to see if she was real. She touched her bow, her locket, even the little barrettes in her odango's before she cupped Usagi's cheek and stared into her eyes.

"Mama, I'm sorry," Usagi whispered as tears filled her eyes. "I couldn't…I couldn't tell you. I wasn't supposed to. But it had papa. It was going to kill papa. I couldn't let it hurt any of you!" And now, she started babbling. "I just did what I had to do. I think any of the other Senshi would have done it, right guys? I'm right, aren't I? I just wanted to protect you is all. I know I'm in trouble, I don't know how Tuxedo Kamen saw me, but he did, and now I'm in so much trouble. I'm sorry, I know I'm not the perfect daughter, but can you at least understand that I try to be? And-"

Ikuko laughed, cutting Usagi off. She threw her arms around Usagi and laughed at her daughter's babbling apology. Kenji came up behind them and put his arms around both of them. Even Shingo stood next to them, being far too cool to join in on the hug himself, of course.

"Usagi," Kenji said with a bit of a rasp, "you saved my life. You saved your papa's life and I don't even know how to thank you. But…this is dangerous. What you're doing is very dangerous and I don't think you should be doing it."

The Senshi, who while they had given the Tsukinos space could still hear every word, exchanged glances. They had expected this. Too dangerous. Too young. Lots of excuses, but there was no one else.

"No way, papa!" Shingo exclaimed. "Usagi's super cool!"

Sailor Venus cleared her throat and stepped forward. "This isn't the place to have this discussion. Let's go inside." She shimmered out of her transformation, leaving just plain Aino Minako in her wake.

Mars grabbed her arm and hissed, "What are you doing? The Dark Kingdom could be watching!"

"And they'd figure it out soon anyway, Mars. I'm not going to stay transformed for the rest of my life," Minako huffed, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

Mercury shrugged and detransformed. "She's right, Mars."

Jupiter followed suit.

Steaming, and unwilling, Mars turned back into Rei and together the eight of them made their way towards the inn that the family was staying in. The girls had managed to use Rei's father's name to book a room for the night as well, so they were staying there too. As soon as they got to the top they went into the Tsukino's room, locked the door, contacted Luna for advice, and then everything began to come undone.

"I guess," Usagi said as she fiddled with her pig tails, "I should start at the beginning."

"Duh, baka-Usagi," Shingo said under his breath.

"I just don't know which beginning."

Ikuko patted her daughter's hand. "Why don't you tell the story how you found out, okay?"

"Okay, mama." A deep breath. _You can do this, Usagi. You can do this._ "One day on my way to school I saw some boys tormenting a cat…"

And so it all came out. Sailor Moon, the Silver Millennium, the Sailor Senshi, talking cats, The Dark Kingdom, Princess Serenity, Prince Endymion, Mamoru's brainwashing, all of it. It spilled out of Usagi's mouth like water from a broken dam as she told of the times she barely escaped death, the countless nights she'd fought. How relieved she'd been that there were others, and how they'd become friends while also becoming a team. It was a great catharsis for Usagi to finally be telling her family what had happened in these recent months. The other Senshi added their bits and pieces but left the majority of the story telling to their leader.

When she got to the part about her being a reincarnated princess from a dead kingdom, Shingo had snorted and laughed until an icy glare from Ami had caused him to pause. The Silver Millennium was not something to joke about. The many times that Usagi fell down and tripped even as Sailor Moon apparently were, though, and were brought up multiple times to reassure Shingo that his sister was still his sister.

Somehow, they got around to the subject of Tuxedo Kamen, Mamoru, and Usagi managed to choke out how he was no longer their ally.

"He's an enemy," Rei said firmly while Usagi quietly sipped on tea that had long gone to ice. "We have to treat him like one."

"So, even though he helped you, he's only out to get that ginzuishou thing?" Shingo asked, mouth full of cookies.

"Basically," Makoto agreed while rubbing at where her arm had fallen asleep. "I mean, he hasn't out right tried to kill us, that's left up to Kunzite, but he pretty much has said he'll do whatever it takes to get the ginzuishou."

"Do you think he would hurt Usagi?" Ikuko whispered.

Minako looked at Usagi, who was looking out the window. "We aren't taking that chance."

"Absolutely not!" Kenji yelled while getting to his feet. "I won't allow this to happen!"

"Papa!"

"Kenji!"

The Senshi exchanged glances, having figured this was coming long before they got to the part about Mamoru.

"You're talking about someone who now knows my daughter's secret identity wanting to probably kill her for some gem stone? Give it to him! Her life isn't worth it! I won't have you fighting these battles anymore either, Usagi. You're going to give them that broach thing and that's going to be all I want to hear on the matter. That's it. And you four, how could you do this? I'm going to call your parents!"

They let him go on. It seemed to help as he slowly deflated and ran out of steam before coming back to reality, where everyone was staring up at him, some wide-eyed, some angry. Usagi refused to meet his gaze.

Usagi cleared her throat and stepped into her role as leader. "Are you done, papa?" She didn't wait for him to answer. "That 'gem stone' has enough energy to destroy the entire planet. If the Dark Kingdom gets their hands on it this planet will die. Everyone you know will be killed. Mama, Shingo, me. Everyone. The five of us are fighting to stop that from happening. You think we like fighting these battles? Getting up at two in the morning, being late for school, missing time with our families? We hate it! But who else is going to do it? Can you do it, papa?"

"Usagi-chan," Makoto whispered, having never seen Usagi so angry before.

But Usagi wasn't done yet. "We've given our lives before to do this, in another life time, as I understand it. I'm not going to stop because you don't like it. I can't stop because you don't like it. If I could just stop because I didn't like it, I would have a long time ago. I hate fighting. But I do love protecting this planet and its people. Knowing that there's someone there who will never fail at keeping them safe. And that's me. That's who I am, papa."

In a huff, Usagi sat back, arms crossed and looking more like a disgruntled teenager than a fierce warrior, but her message was clear. She would not be swayed.

"You can't tell my parents, I don't have any," Makoto said with a grin. "And I actually like being a Senshi."

"Eh, who cares if my mom gets mad at me about being a Senshi, that's what you guys are for, right?" Minako asked with a wink.

Ami smiled softly. "Tsukino-san, we'll protect Usagi-chan. Nothing will happen to her."

Rei blew out her bangs and leaned forward. "Ami-chan's right, we'll always be there for Usagi."

Usagi's eyes teared up and she all but jumped over the table to hug her friends, who laughed when she knocked over a plate of food and several glasses of tea.

Ikuko smiled at her daughter while Kenji, defeated, sat on the ground next to his wife. She touched his hand turned to face him.

"Can't you see how happy she is?" Ikuko asked him.

"What if she gets hurt?" Kenji pleaded, worry clearly evident on his face. "What do we do then?"

"The same thing all parents do with new things. We wait and see what happens."

XxXxXxXxX

Endymion had delivered his report to Queen Beryl, and without knowing why he had left out one very important detail to his queen.

Sailor Moon's identity.

He had kept that tidbit of information to himself, seeking to keep it hidden from Kunzite, who would undoubtedly try and kill the girl instantly, and to stop what would be an order to attack her and her family until she relinquished the ginzuishou. It wasn't his way, it didn't seem fair somehow to take advantage of his new information. But he was going to have to eventually, he needed to get the ginzuishou.

And Sailor Moon would give it to him if she thought her family was in danger.

No, she would fight him. She would fight him until she died to protect her family, he had seen that today. For some reason that made him smile as he recalled the way the moonlight shimmered against her hair and how she had made that face, the one that showed she wouldn't back down, as soon as the youma made a grab for her family.

Endymion couldn't stop thinking about her.

"Usagi," he whispered, trying the name on his tongue again, without the mocking tone behind it. "Usagi." He smirked and waved a hand before him, willing the image of the young girl to appear.

She was still awake, and to his shock she was alone and outside the inn that she was staying at. He was about to create a portal when someone else entered the vision and he realized it was her mother. He stopped, hesitated, and then banished the image away.

There would be plenty of time to get her alone later.

Yay, nay? Please review! Thank you very much for reading!

EDIT: Wow, so, uh, within a few hours I got what I consider a pretty decent response and I'll be continuing this. I might end up going darker so the rating might go up to T, but we'll see what happens there. While I was going through my computer and archiving this story today I found a couple of stories that I had never published from long, long ago. I'm going to edit them and get around to posting them in the next few weeks. They're comedies, not drama so take that as you will.

Thank you to everyone who has already reviewed, favorite, and followed the story. 3

-Ginzuishou


	2. Left Alone

Hello everyone! Thank you all very much for your support. I got more support than I thought I would for this so I continued it like I promised I would. I was actually really shocked that I got what I did! I hope you all enjoy this chapter as well.

Please review, I appreciate it!

**A Little Late**

**Chapter 2/?**

A week had passed since the incident at the hot springs and so far life had been quiet in the Tsukino household. Sure, there had been some adjusting to do, especially when they returned home and found that when Usagi had said that Luna could talk, she wasn't joking, Luna could talk. Shingo found this turn of events to be rather enjoyable, but only until Luna revealed herself to be a second mother in the household.

The Tsukino's were slowly warming up to the idea of their daughter being Tokyo's greatest super heroine. So far they had enough time to talk it over with her, about how she stayed safe, how she fought, because there had not been an attack since that one at the hot springs. Much to everyone's relief.

But it was also to their suspicion.

Usagi found that she was never alone. Luna had deemed it was 'too dangerous' for her to be left alone in case of an attack. School was easy enough, Ami and Makoto were both there at all times, but it was at home that everyone really worried. Usagi couldn't sleep with one eye open, waiting for the Dark Kingdom and Endymion to strike, while still being ready for school and normal day to day functions.

This was solved within two days of Usagi not sleeping by Ikuko, who invited Makoto to stay with them until everything blew over and things were back to normal. Makoto eagerly accepted the position of being Usagi's personal body guard, even going so far as to rub it in Rei's face a little bit before calming down. Makoto slept on the extra futon on Usagi's floor, always there if she needed her, but so far the two of them had just talked late into the night with Makoto reassuring Usagi that things would be back to normal soon.

One morning, during breakfast that Usagi found herself actually sitting through, the family discussed the day ahead.

"Is there training for the two of you today?" Ikuko asked as she spooned more rice into Usagi's bowl.

Makoto nodded and swallowed her breakfast. "Yes, Ikuko-mama. We're going to Rei-chan's to study and then once it's dark we'll go find a place to train."

"Don't you want to come home for dinner between the two?"

"We can eat afterwards. If that's okay with you," Makoto said hurriedly, not wanting to impress upon the hospitality that she was already being shown. "I can always whip something up for Usagi-chan and I when we get back."

"Don't be silly, Mako-chan!" Ikuko exclaimed with a laugh. "I'll keep dinner warm for you two."

Usagi beamed at her mother, her mouth stuffed full of rice. "Mama, thank you!"

"Usagi-chan, swallow," Luna instructed from her place on some phone books that the family had kindly perched for her at the height of the table from a chair.

Kenji jumped when Luna spoke so suddenly, still not entirely used to a talking cat, and patted his chest to calm himself down. "Oh, Luna, you really musn't…heh. I should go. Usagi, Mako-chan, isn't it time for school?"

Makoto checked her watch and gasped. "Usagi-chan, we're going to be late!"

XxXxXxXx

"Usagi-chan, we're going to be late!" the one called Makoto, Sailor Jupiter, said while checking her watch.

Endymion watched as Usagi shrieked and jumped up from her chair, tripped, fell to the ground, recovered, and then grabbed her lunch from her mother so she could dash out the door with Makoto at her heels. He chuckled when she tripped again, catching herself on a nearby light pole this time, only to be dragged off by Makoto.

He had been watching her for a week now, her clumsiness was just part of her charm.

Before, Sailor Moon had been an annoyance, a harbinger of justice and love, a thorn in his side. Now he had been watching her almost like a man obsessed, which he wasn't of course, and seen what she was really like when the tiara wasn't on. She was…

No. He wouldn't allow his thoughts to go down this path once again. He was Endymion, loyal servant to Queen Beryl and Queen Metalia of the Dark Kingdom. He was not going to let some little _girl_ stand between him and his orders.

Since finding out Usagi's identity he had not found a moment, that he had seen, where she had been without another Senshi. He had been busy himself, but he hadn't thought that Jupiter would suddenly move in with the Tsukino's, making his chances at snatching her away less likely. They were taking him seriously, and this thought pleased him.

The girls reached the school, just barely on time, and Endymion found himself reaching out towards the image of Usagi doubled over, breathing hard as Ami, Sailor Mercury, laughed at her and patted her on the back in reassurance. He caught himself and in anger he swiped at the image, banishing it from his sight.

This had been happening since he discovered that Sailor Moon was Usagi, that they were the same person, that there even was an Usagi, and it confounded Endymion to no end. These feelings, this need to see her, were bewildering. Even more so than his decision to not tell his Queen about Sailor Moon's true identity. It was like something was awakening inside of him, something he was unable to tangibly understand.

He would see if later she was free of her protectors.

XxXxXxXx

Usagi had detention.

Not because she was late, that hadn't happened all week thanks to Makoto, but because she had failed her English test again. Haruna had made her stay after school to complete the test again, this time with the correct answers, while she sat at the desk and graded papers. Makoto and Ami stayed after with her, haunting the gate into the school while they waited for detention to end.

It frustrated Usagi a bit to know they had such a close eye on her, but she was grateful at the same time as well. It meant that Endymion was less likely to attack her if they were in a group. Or at least that's how it seemed to work so far. There hadn't been a word.

Usagi scratched her head and tried to understand if the word "walked" was present or past tense, she just didn't get it. She'd never get it. She wondered if as a princess she'd had to bother with this stuff in her past life, or had it been harder? Had she been smarter, and it all came naturally? So many unanswered questions. Usagi sighed. No, this didn't help, and she still didn't get the damn word.

With the metallic scraping of a chair, Haruna stood up and stretched her back. They had been sitting still for over an hour and Usagi had, shockingly enough, been trying to work on her test. Haruna was impressed. "Tsukino-san, I'm going for some water, I'll be right back. Don't you dare move or it'll be another detention," she warned.

Usagi fought the urge to roll her eyes but settled for muttering a low, "Yes, sensei," and going back to work.

Haruna nodded proudly, feeling that so many months of work were finally getting through to her wayward student and stepped into the hallway, only intending to be gone for a few minutes.

XxXxXxXx

Endymion watched Haruna leave the room. The Senshi were still outside waiting for Usagi.

Usagi was alone.

XxXxXxXx

Usagi felt him before she saw him. Maybe it was Serenity reaching out for him, or her inborn sense to reject the darkness that over powered him now. Whatever it was, an instant before he appeared a cold chill ran down her spine and she knew that the moment she had been dreading for the past week was going to come to pass. Fear settled in her stomach and she swallowed hard as the room seemed to shimmer around her.

On instinct she reached for her communicator, she knew her friends were nearby and they could hold him until the others arrived. Her only real concern was that she would undoubtedly get another detention when she ran out of the room to take the battle someplace that wasn't her school. It didn't occur to her exactly how fast Endymion was.

Before she could hit the button to call the Senshi, a hand grabbed her arm and wretched her out of her hard plastic seat, nearly pulling Usagi's arm from her socket. She cried out as she tripped, for once not her fault, and tried to find her balance from the forced removal of her center of gravity. But she knew this grip, she'd felt it many times before.

"We can't have you doing that. Usagi." Endymion's smoky voice said softly as he wrapped an arm around her waist so she couldn't get away. Usagi's breath hitched as his lips brushed dangerously close to her earlobe. "Let's take a walk."

With a wave of his cape, and before Usagi could say a word, they vanished from the classroom, leaving Usagi's books and test where she had just been working on it in the empty classroom.

XxXxXxXx

Ami was reading a book when she felt it, Makoto was doing some of her homework to get it out of the way, asking for help as she needed. They knew they had another hour or so to go before Usagi got out of detention, and they were doing their best to not waste their time. They were being lazy, not really looking for anything to happen because they figured Endymion wouldn't try something with the two of them right there, so when it happened both of them snapped their heads up and exchanged a look.

Makoto jumped up, her homework tumbling to the ground as she looked at Ami to tell her what she felt. Ami just shook her head. "I feel him, too!" she said, reaching for her transformation pen, but holding off when another student passed by them.

They left their books where they were and rushed to their classroom where they found Haruna standing in the doorway, looking more than a little pissed off.

"Um, Haruna-sensei?" Ami broached, feeling dread well in her stomach. "Is it time for Usagi-chan to get let out of detention yet?"

"No!" Haruna yelled. "Tsukino-san is staying the entire time tonight, once she gets back! And tomorrow, too! I left for two minutes, two minutes, Mizuno-san, and she slipped out! Oh, she's going to get it for this."

Ami and Makoto exchanged worried glances and peaked into the classroom over Haruna's shoulder. Usagi's stuff was still at her seat, but as Haruna had said, Usagi herself was gone. With terror growing every second, Makoto grabbed Ami by the arm and jerked her head towards the hallway as Haruna began to go off on a rant. They ran down the hall and Ami pulled out her communicator, calling Rei and Minako to alert them to their missing princess.

XxXxXxXx

Usagi shivered when she and Endymion rematerialized under the night sky in what she could only consider to be a barren wasteland. She could see what appeared to be limited vegetation growing around them and hard packed dirt under her feet. She had no clue where she was.

"Is this the Dark Kingdom?" she asked, fearful of his answered.

Endymion barked out a laugh, amused at the way she seemed to tremble. "No, Usagi, this is the Sonoran desert in Mexico." She gave him a blank look and he wanted to sigh, having the feeling of doing something like this before. "It's unlikely we will be discovered here. Nephrite was in charge of this area before his unfortunate accident."

"Before Zoicite had him murdered," Usagi bit back. She had always been bitter about how Nephrite had met his end, and had never felt any guilt with being directly responsible for Zoicite's. She pushed away from Endymion so she could stand apart from him, so he wouldn't know that she was still shaking from being so close to him, and not so much from the cold desert night. She stood straighter, and put her hand on her locket, ready to transform, but she didn't do it, not yet. Something told her that while this was a dangerous situation, she wasn't actually in any danger. Endymion wasn't out to hurt her.

"Mamoru-san-"

"How many times do I have to tell you?" Endymion snapped at her. "My name is Endymion. You would do well to remember that, _Usagi._"

Usagi jumped back and then raised her first in defiance of him. "No, it isn't! You're Chiba Mamoru! An annoying, cocky, stupid…JERK who likes to make fun of my hair style."

"Whoever this man is I may not be him, but he sounds charming."

Usagi steamed, and held back a retort, feeling that she would only be playing into his hand if she said what she was thinking about how Mamoru had always teased her. "Fine, Endymion, you've taken all of this trouble to get me alone, what do you want?"

"The ginzuishou."

"No."

"And what about your family, how do they feel about you saying no to me?" he asked casually, circling the school girl.

Usagi turned with him, not letting him get behind her at all. She wasn't going to let him get the drop on her. "They encourage it. They know you can't have it, that I can't give it to you. I'll heal you, though, Mamo-Endymion," she quickly corrected herself. "I'll heal you with it and then you won't want it anymore."

"Such pretty words from such a pretty princess." He moved in closer and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She shrunk back as though his touch burned her, though in reality it was what she had longed to have for more time than she cared to think about. "You're afraid of me."

Her head snapped up and Usagi grabbed Endymion's hand, her eyes burning with the fire of a warrior. He smirked. "I am not afraid of you, Endymion."

"Prove it."

"Moon Prism Power! Make Up!"

In a swirl of lights and ribbons Usagi transformed from her school uniform into her sailor fuku, and with every confidence known to her she faced Endymion, ready to fight him, and heal him.

"Did your family tell you that you're naked when you transform, by chance?" Endymion asked her, cocking an eyebrow.

Sailor Moon went red, and she raised her hand to slap him across the face, but he caught her hand as she made the move and shook his finger at her. "I'm sorry, was that new information? Have you never noticed before?"

In truth, she hadn't. She always concentrated on the rush of power, the feeling of escape, the sheer emotion that went with the transformation. And she hadn't paid any attention to what happened when her friends transformed because she was always in the middle of her own transformation when they transformed in front of her, so what was she really going to look at? She was horrified, embarrassed beyond all reason, that this is what Endymion had decided to focus on.

"Don't worry, Sailor Moon, it's not like it wasn't worth the show. You have nothing to worry about, someone will be very lucky one day."

"This is not happening."

"Now…come at me, Sailor Moon," Endymion ordered, his previous sarcastic and ridiculing nature tossed aside and replaced with the harsh cold that mirrored the outside temperature.

They took battle stances, facing off against each other and Sailor Moon knew there was only one thing she could do to get him back, and it was going to drain her of her energy. Sailor Moon pulled her Moon Stick out and Endymion unsheathed his sword, and the battle began.

XxXxXxXx

Sailor Venus paced about the Tsukino's living room, her heels sticking to the carpet occasionally as she made her trek back and forth, not caring how rude it was to leave her shoes on. Mercury was standing in the corner, tapping away at her computer, trying to find Usagi somewhere, anywhere. Jupiter was sitting on the edge of the couch, trying to calm Ikuko down while Shingo sat with Mars, who was making a good show of not calming him down. Luna and Artemis were sitting at Ikuko's feet. Kenji was still at work and didn't know his daughter was missing yet.

"She has to be somewhere, you have to be able to find her, Mercury," Venus snapped.

"I'm looking. He could have taken her literally anywhere in the world, Venus, you know we can't find them."

Mars sighed and closed her eyes. "We have to consider that he probably took her to the-"

"We aren't thinking about that," Jupiter snapped. "He's had all week to take her there. Why now?"

"Because we left her alone, Mako-chan," Mercury whispered. "He's been watching, and waiting."

"This guy is creepy," Shingo observed.

"Yeah, he kinda was even when he was good," Mars gave him. She sighed again. "I'm going home to consult the fire. Maybe we'll get a clue that way."

Luna shook her head. "We already did that, Mars. You didn't see anything-"

"Well, we'll try again!" Mars' voice startled the crying Ikuko. Jupiter shot Mars a dirty look, which she ignored. "We're not letting our Princess get hurt by that, that…psycho betrayer!"

Venus ran her hand through her hair and nodded her head. "Fine. Jupiter, Mars, go check it out. Do it quietly, be quick. Mercury and I will stay here. I don't want to leave Usagi-chan's family alone."

"Fine by me," Jupiter said as she got up. She squeezed Ikuko's hand once and Luna and Artemis took over as chief comforters. Artemis put a paw on Ikuko's hand and Luna climbed into her lap, purring. The two Senshi left, taking to the streets like the wind was at their backs.

Mercury's fingers whisked across the keyboard as she programmed another run to sweep for information, checking for both dark energy and the ginzuishou's signature. So far she had found nothing, but she wasn't giving up. Swallowing hard, she tried again, tweaking the program a little to see if she had done something wrong, if she could work it right this time.

It was going to be a long night.

XxXxXxXx

Sailor Moon feigned right and then was forced to pulled her tiara off her head and attack Endymion again.

"Moon Tiara Action!"

Endymion, now Tuxedo Kamen, ducked the tiara expertly and countered with a rose of his own. Sailor Moon ducked and knocked the rose away with a swing of the Moon Stick. They had been fighting for several minutes and they were at a stalemate so far. They had both been fighting with everything in them, not giving either any leeway. Sailor Moon hadn't had a moment to pause to properly charge up her attack. There were no speeches, no taunts going back and forth, just the battle.

Tuxedo Kamen had his cane out and came at Sailor Moon from above, always the aggressor, and Sailor Moon rolled out of the way, barely escaping in time. She jumped to her feet, her knees scraped from the roll in the dirt, but otherwise she was fine. In times like this she really needed her Senshi for support, but they weren't here to help. She had to take him down herself.

"What's the matter, Sailor Moon?" Tuxedo Kamen taunted when she didn't attack him. "I thought you weren't afraid of me."

Nostrils flaring, blooding pounding through her ears, Sailor Moon took that second to hold the Moon Stick and the ginzuishou in her hand. "I'm not!"

"Moon Healing Escalation!"

But Tuxedo Kamen was too quick. He had been expecting this and he jumped out of the way of the healing light of the ginzuishou and landed next to Sailor Moon, who immediately stopped her attack and turned to attack him again with the Moon Stick as a melee weapon. They both stopped short with each of their weapons paused at the others throat, breathing heavy and shocked that the battle had come to such aggression.

Tuxedo Kamen had never been so proud of himself.

"Nice work, Sailor Moon." He dropped his cane and turned away from her, working a kink out of his side from where she had landed a kick. "Surprising, even."

Confused, Sailor Moon lowered her weapon and shuddered a little in the night air. Seconds before they had been fighting to the death, now he was turning his back on her, leaving himself perfectly open for an attack. And she was going to take it.

"Moon Healing-"

"Stop. I stopped attacking because I was feeling generous to acknowledge your strength. Don't make me start fighting you again," Tuxedo Kamen warned.

"I'm still not giving you the ginzuishou," Sailor Moon reminded him pointedly. "So whatever you think you're going to do, or achieve here, you may as well get it over with. I'm not giving up."

Tuxedo Kamen crossed the distance between them in two quick paces. He leaned down so that the gap between them was only a hair's breath. Sailor Moon could smell the sweat of his body, and nearly taste him as he breathed on her lips, "Neither am I."

With a flourish of his cape they vanished from the desert, leaving only scarred landscape and charcoaled plants in their midst.

Sailor Moon reappeared, alone, in front of her house. It was now sunset, she had apparently been gone longer than she had realized, but she often lost track of time during battles. With a groan, because Tuxedo Kamen had hit her several times, she let her transformation fade away and walked past her gate to the front door. She opened the door and clicked it shut behind her, not knowing if anyone was home or not she still called out.

"I'm home!"

There was the sound of a dish breaking in the living room and then running. Seconds later, Usagi was smothered by her mother who held onto her tightly and cried openly into her hair. Usagi grabbed onto Ikuko like she was a lifeline and let out a loud wail that let everyone know that she was fine. Usagi was just fine.

"Is he still here?" Mercury asked, closing her computer and turning off her goggles.

Usagi shook her head and still clung to her mother.

"What did he want?" Venus asked while Mercury made the call to Jupiter and Mars that everything was fine and they had Usagi again.

"The ginzuishou," Usagi hiccupped out, finally pulling away from Ikuko. Luna padded along silently beside her and rubbed against her ankles. Usagi reached down and picked her up, hugging her tightly to her chest. "He just wanted the ginzuishou." She remembered how they had parted, and some small part of her wondered, vaguely, if that was all he was after now.

"Did he hurt you?" Kenji, who was now home, asked, surveying his daughter, checking her for bruises and cuts.

Usagi touched the one place where one of Tuxedo Kamen's roses had scratched her, her left side, and shook her head. There was no use getting them upset. "Not really. We fought, but we were pretty evenly matched. He didn't want to kill me and take the ginzuishou if that's what you mean."

Powering down, Minako and Ami led Usagi back to the living room where they waited for Rei and Makoto to arrive. When they got there, there were more happy reunions, and some yelling from Rei about Usagi being stupid, before Usagi told the story of what happened.

"Mexico?" Ami said as she wrote the information down. She had kept very careful notes of everything Usagi had told them in case something Endymion had said led them to where the Dark Kingdom was currently located.

"He said Nephrite had been in charge of it before he died," Usagi explained.

"Then it's probably not the Dark Kingdom's hiding spot," Artemis argued. "They aren't going to leave their lair exposed like that."

"And with the hostilities between Kunzite and Endymion he probably wanted to go somewhere he wouldn't be seen if he wasn't going to just out right kill you, Usagi-chan," Minako reasoned.

"That really isn't all that reassuring, Minako-chan," Usagi said with a frown.

"It really wasn't meant to be," Minako said with a sigh. Her demeanor changed drastically and she laughed. "Come on, Usagi-chan, buck up! We'll fix this, no matter what. We're just now going to have to make sure that Mako-chan or Ami-chan gets detention with you every day!"

Ami went pale at this suggestion and Makoto merely shrugged her shoulders. "Well, I could do that, too."

"Mako-chan, we're already asking so much of you," Ikuko said wearily. "Surely there's something else we can do?"

"Usagi can just not get detention," Rei suggested with a tone that said this wasn't the first time this offer had been brought to the table.

Usagi suddenly wailed. "I just remembered!"

"What is it, Usagi-chan?" Luna asked, worried.

"Haruna said I'd get detention if I left the room while she was gone. I'm going to be in so much trouble!"

XxXxXxXx

Endymion punched a wall as soon as he arrived back at the Dark Kingdom. What was he doing? What was going on with him? He didn't understand his actions, he had the girl right there in his grasp and he let her go, just let her go! And he had almost kissed her, he had come so close to kissing those lips and this confused him why he felt that, at the time, it would have been so right if he had done that.

But why? Why Usagi? He had fought beside Sailor Moon so many times before, teaming up with her often against Kunzite when his plans would involve innocent people. Mostly to get back at Kunzite he told himself, of course, and he hadn't felt like this around her.

Or so he told himself.

He hadn't saved her, he hadn't given her special attention.

"Shit," he muttered, punching the wall again and pacing, his cape billowing behind him as he did so.

From behind him another figure appeared, scowling, as was his customary facial feature. Kunzite did not like being Beryl's errand boy any more than he liked being second to Endymion, and right now he was both. "You've been missing most of the day, Endymion."

"That isn't your business," Endymion bit to Kunzite furiously, grateful to have someone to take his anger out on.

"No, but our queen believes it is hers. She requests your presence."

_Shit._

There would be punishment, and Endymion would accept it because he would not explain his missing day to Beryl. She did not need to know about Tsukino Usagi until the day he brought her the shining ginzuishou.

To be continued…

Well that ended up being a little longer than I had planned, but I hope it came out alright. I honestly have very little idea of where this is going and I'll just write until it ends. It shouldn't be too long, to be honest. Though it already seems to be getting away from me! My stories have a habit of doing that.

Thank you to those who have reviewed! Please review! I really do appreciate your feedback.

-Ginzuishou


	3. The Threat

I don't know if you've noticed before, but the Senshi all have incredibly easy lives to work around when it comes to their families. Some easier than others, I'd say Minako has it the hardest, but the way Naoko Takeuchi wrote everyone's back story, except Usagi's, she made it so that no one else had to contend with their family in the same way Usagi has to.

Minako's the only one with both parents, and she even lists her own mother as a dislike in the Sailor V manga. And the Outers certainly have a unique living situation!

**A Little Late**

**Chapter 3/?**

The weekend came as it tends to do, and there was no word from Endymion since his encounter with Usagi. Everyone was still on high alert, and the girls took turns watching Usagi from a distance or as a group to try and keep her life as uninterrupted as possible. Usagi argued with them for over an hour one day that this was interrupting their lives, but they would hear nothing of it. After the last time with Endymion taking her from right under their noses they weren't taking any chances.

But today, today she had managed to talk them into taking the day because she would be with her mother, in a crowded shopping center and Endymion had specifically waited until Usagi was completely alone before doing anything. The Senshi, Luna, and Artemis had reluctantly agreed and so Ikuko and Usagi had left the house in glee to go and do what Usagi so loved to do: shop.

They went to the Juuban shopping district and window shopped, stopping to try on clothes and hats, giggling, just generally being girls out shopping. Around one they stopped to eat at a little café that had a full menu, and seemed to please Usagi. She ordered what seemed to be half the menu, reminding Ikuko why they didn't go out to eat very often, and waited for their food to arrive.

The day was a little chilly, but they sat outside on the crowded street, which in Usagi's mind was probably safer than waiting for Endymion to throw a youma into the café. Something she wouldn't put past him doing if he really wanted to get her alone, but she could hold him off in this environment while she waited for the others. Her stomach twinged at the thought of putting her mother in that kind of danger again, though, but it was something she was learning to live with.

"How are your injuries, Usagi?" Ikuko asked her daughter, knowing that they couldn't be over heard in the hustle and bustle of the crowd.

Ikuko had been the only one in the family to notice that Usagi was injured, even if it was just a little bit, that night that Endymion had taken her. She hadn't fussed over it, hadn't made a big scene, but that night when Usagi had gone to her room with Makoto and Luna she had quietly followed them up the stairs and slipped in behind her to ask them about it. Usagi had shown her the cut on her side and admitted to a pretty thorough bruising. It could have been much worse.

"That healed days ago, mama. We heal really quickly, actually. It comes in really handy when you have to hide a broken bone or a really bad gash…not that I've ever had to do that," Usagi added in a rush. "Never broken a bone, that was Mako-chan actually. Ami-chan had to set it. I really, really don't ever want to break a bone. It looked really painful."

Ikuko smiled weakly at that. It was little revelations like this, about being hurt, about having to wake up at all hours of the night, that worried her. She found that she had a confidant in Luna, who shared many of her same fears about Usagi and the other girls. It became normal for the two of them to talk over coffee and milk in the mornings now after everyone left for the day and discuss how the past had evolved into the present. Luna had every faith in Usagi being able to handle herself, she was just afraid of her getting hurt in the process should they not be able to bring Mamoru back.

Ikuko was certain that if her daughter had the power to free a woman of hundreds of years of jealousy, then to free a man who probably deep down wanted his freedom should be easy. And she obviously had the power to do so, Ikuko had seen it herself. And she didn't doubt the stories that she had heard when Usagi had told her everything.

"What's the worst you've been hurt?" Ikuko asked her daughter, not sure she wanted to know the answer, because it meant that at some point Usagi had lied to her about something.

It was Usagi's turn to smile weakly at her mother. "I think it was when I was working alone. A youma caught me off guard and I reacted too slow. It cut me across the back and took a full three days to heal." She remembered the battle well, it was early in her career and she had been very green. She knew little beyond 'throw the tiara, turn it to dust'. "Luna was so upset, she yelled at me for fifteen minutes before finally telling me she was happy I was okay."

"That's Luna for you," Ikuko said with a chuckle. "She was just worried about you."

"Yeah, yeah, but she didn't have to _lecture _me about leaving my left open. I know I'm weak on my left. It wasn't exactly news even at that point!"

A waiter came and brought the first of their food, idly wondering who else was going to be joining the two ladies who had been sitting together, but just shrugged and went to get the rest.

Usagi immediately dug in, while Ikuko started at a slower pace, used to her daughter's eating habits. The rest of the food arrived and the waiter, no longer wondering, just stared at Usagi for a moment before setting the rest of the food on the table and backing away slowly.

"Is it easier for you now that we know? I mean, now that you don't have to sneak a talking cat around the house, or duck out of your room at night to train or fight?" Ikuko asked. So far there hadn't been anything but the one problem, the Dark Kingdom was really dragging its feet lately but no one was complaining. It was unusual to get so much rest between incidents.

Usagi paused in her eating and considered this for a moment. "Yeah, it's easier. Not hiding a talking cat is a lot easier, for sure. Do you know how many times you walked in the middle of conversations with Luna?" Ikuko shook her head and Usagi made an exaggerated gesture with her hands. "Aaaaall the time! I swear, it's like she never tries to stay hidden."

Ikuko paused with her fork in her mouth. To be honest, lately, she had been wondering why Usagi had taken to talking to herself so much. She thought that it was just a phase she was going through. "All that time it was Luna, was it? I thought you might have been going crazy."

"Mama!" Ikuko laughed heartily at Usagi's indignant shout. "Mama, you're mean," Usagi pouted.

"Oh, I'm teasing you dear, I'm teasing you." Ikuko took a sip of her drink and almost choked when Usagi stuck her tongue out.

"But it's easier knowing that you know where I am. That one day, if I don't come back, you won't just sit there and wonder what happened to me." Usagi looked at her lap and mumbled. "Or find out from Luna or something." Ikuko looked stricken with the way the questions had gone and Usagi tried to lighten the conversation. "But just not having to lie to you about why I'm never studying or sleeping all the time means a lot to me."

Ikuko didn't point out that Usagi had done all these things before becoming Sailor Moon, but she did silently acknowledge that being Sailor Moon made them that much worse. Even Ami had complained about being behind in her studies. Behind for Ami, of course, meant less than ten chapters ahead.

"Have you thought about taking the fight to-"

An explosion rocked a nearby store and screams followed. Ikuko's hand flew to her mouth and Usagi, who had looked so carefree just a moment ago, turned serious and even swore under her breath. The sensation of being splashed with a bucket of ice water washed over her and Usagi knew. The past two weeks had really weighed on her. She felt that running from the monster and screaming wasn't going to make her mother have faith in her as a Senshi. Grabbing her mother's arm, Usagi yanked her down the street away from the blast.

"Usagi, are you sure?" Ikuko yelled as they made their way in the throng of people escaping.

Usagi paused long enough to see her chance, an alleyway. She pulled Ikuko in after her and stood her at the edge, as though she was guarding the entrance so no one would see when Usagi transformed.

"Moon Prism Power! Make Up!"

Sailor Moon took Ikuko by the arms and gripped her tightly. "Stay _here_. Don't move unless you have to, please. Promise me!"

"Usagi…"

"Mama, promise me!"

"I promise."

Sailor Moon took a second to call the others on her communicator, getting groans when she told them what was going on. They agreed and she knew they would join her shortly. In the mean time she would hold off the youma on her own.

Sailor Moon took off out of the alley, running against the stream of people who were making their way from the site. She heard one or two of them call out for the super heroine, but ignored them and went to the building that was now missing front windows and had no door. It had once been a clothing store selling items for young girls, but now it was simply a mess with clothes and cutesy items strewn all over the floor. There were also signs announcing a huge sale, leading Sailor Moon to believe that the Dark Kingdom probably had been using the store as a front to try and lure her there.

It probably would have worked if she hadn't stopped for lunch. So she was a little behind schedule, would Endymion or Kunzite really notice?

"You're late, Sailor Moon," Kunzite sneered as Sailor Moon made the scene.

_Hey, I didn't even get to make my speech!_

The youma, a tall, green female covered in only a short skirt and a tank top with long knife-like finger nails that were razor sharp, was terrorizing the few patrons that hadn't made it out of the store. Sailor Moon put herself between the youma and them. "Run!" she yelled to them, getting the youma's attention.

"Youma Garbon, get the ginzuishou from Sailor Moon," Kunzite ordered Garbon, who only seemed too happy to comply.

Garbon flexed its claws and the razor-like points at the end came flying off of it, towards Sailor Moon, who ducked expertly. She continued to dance away from the youma's hooks and trajectory attacks as she waited for the others to show up and help her. Kunzite chuckled as he watched her, but he noticed that there was something different in the way she was acting, how she was fighting. He couldn't put a finger on it, but he was certain he didn't like it.

Normally Sailor Moon would be falling on her face, gallivanting around like some idiot with a bag over her head who couldn't see where she was going. This Sailor Moon was more together, more poised. More like what little he could remember of Princess Serenity from the Silver Millennium. Not some child from the modern era.

Kunzite narrowed his eyes as Sailor Moon dodged the next round of attacks with ease. Yes, something had changed in the two weeks that they had been trying to track her down.

XxXxXxXx

Endymion chuckled as he watched the battle from the Dark Kingdom. He had been forbidden from participating in this battle by Queen Beryl, he and Kunzite had 'disagreed' vehemently about the tactics for this particular assignment. Their usual argument had come to blows, and as Endymion had not been able to adequately explain his absence last week, Beryl had taken Kunzite's side, leaving Endymion brooding in the Dark Kingdom.

It was, however, worth it to see Sailor Moon gracefully land blow after blow on the youma he had summoned and hold her own without any of the other Senshi. Kunzite had, after all, assured Queen Beryl that this time he would be able to successfully capture Sailor Moon and the ginzuishou because all young girls in this modern era love to shop and Sailor Moon had often proven herself to be little more than a young girl. So far assuming information based upon the Silver Millennium had brought them nowhere, so this time it seemed that Kunzite was actually thinking. To Endymion anyway.

Perhaps he only felt this way because he now knew that Sailor Moon very much was just a normal, everyday girl when she wasn't fighting the Dark Kingdom. She wasn't worshiped by her Senshi, though they did take protecting her as a very serious job, she wasn't revered, she went to school, played video games, ate a shocking amount of food, and was just…there.

Endymion watched Kunzite order Garbon to attack more fiercely, and while it did, it never touched Sailor Moon. He smirked evilly, feeling pride swell up inside of him.

_You'll never touch her, Kunzite._

XxXxXxXx

"Shabon Spray!"

The shop was blanketed with a thick mist as Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars arrived. They were quickly followed by Sailors Jupiter and Venus, who surrounded the monster.

"We can't take you anywhere, Sailor Moon," Jupiter joked, readying her attack.

Garbon looked at the Senshi that were now surrounding it and with bravado it laughed. "Sailor Senshi, give me the ginzuishou and I might spare your lives!"

"It's not like I planned this, Jupiter!"

"Sure, sure."

"The ginzuishou!" Garbon demanded.

"Supreme Thunder!"

Jupiter's attack struck the youma and caused it to scream in pain, wrenching back. "You won't stop me, Sailor Sen-"

"Fire Soul!"

"Blah blah blah, is that all these things do is talk?" Venus asked as she delivered a swift kick to its midsection. "Do it now, Sailor Moon!"

Sailor Moon pulled out her Moon Stick and raised it above her head, surprised by how fast this had gone once the Senshi had arrived.

"Moon Healing Escalation!"

"Refresh!"

Where Garbon had been standing there now slumped a petite girl dressed in a shopkeepers uniform. She passed out, exhausted from the energy she had just unknowingly used, and the Senshi moved to check if she was alright. Sailor Moon stood still, she hadn't seen where Kunzite had gone off to.

"You damn Sailor Senshi," Kunzite said, appearing off to the side of the store.

He startled the other Senshi, who hadn't seen him when they entered. They took fighting stances, ready to take him on if the occasion called for it, and he took a step forward, readying himself when a disembodied voice called out for him.

The Senshi had heard this voice before, a female voice, back on the day that Sailor Venus had first appeared. They could only theorize that this was Queen Beryl, but were unable to confirm with their limited data. There could be another, even deadlier, opponent for them to fight before they reached Queen Beryl that they were as yet unaware of.

"Kunzite! You must return immediately. You have failed."

Kunzite clenched his teeth and lowered his hand. His face was conflicted, but ultimately he relented to his orders. Unlike Endymion, he would not shame himself by forsaking his queen. But he wouldn't leave without one last shot. He powered up his energy and released it in a blast at Sailor Moon, who ducked out of the way, but cried out when it hit her in the right arm. Kunzite laughed as he faded out and left a few parting words.

"Treasure your last days on Earth, Sailor Moon. The ginzuishou will be ours."

"Sailor Moon! Are you alright?" Venus ran forward and helped their princess up.

Sailor Moon was swearing a little and touching at her new wound. It was a rather large burn and would need to be treated as soon as possible. "I spent the whole battle jumping out of the way and didn't get hurt at all and then…then…this! Ooooh!"

Mercury took Sailor Moon's arm and examined it. "Let me see. It's a pretty bad burn; we'll get down to the control room and treat it. You'll have to wear long sleeves for a few days."

Mars looked up from where she was checking on the clerk and sighed. "She's alright. And it's winter so we're in our winter uniforms, you don't have to worry about school at least."

"Don't worry about it, Sailor Moon," Jupiter said. "As long as you're okay."

"Yeah," Sailor Moon mumbled. "I'm okay…mama!"

"Uh, no. Mako," Jupiter said, pointing to herself. "I'm Mako. Geeze, did you hit your head?"

Sailor Moon took off out of the shop, the other Senshi following her as she ran towards where she had hidden Ikuko earlier. "I mean mama's in an alley up ahead," she told them. "We were eating lunch when the attack happened and I put here there so she'd be safe." They came to the alley and found Ikuko pacing the length of it, worry evident on her face. "Mama!"

"Usagi!"

They ran towards each other, relief evident on each of their faces, before Ikuko was suddenly yanked back by an unseen force. There was a flash of steel and from the darkness Endymion stepped forward holding Ikuko with his sword to her neck.

Sailor Moon and the others froze when he came into the light, Sailor Moon's greatest fear having finally come to light. "Endy…mion…" she whispered. "Please. Don't. What do you want?" Suddenly her eyes went hard as the fear began to drain out of her, and she remembered that she couldn't show him her weakness. "Let her go now!"

"Give me the ginzuishou and I won't hurt her, Usagi." His voice was ever calm, but chilly, flat as he smiled tantalizingly at Sailor Moon. She shivered.

"You know I'm going to do that. Something else. Anything else," Sailor Moon pleaded.

Endymion appeared to be thinking this over, and tears were falling down Ikuko's face as the sword cut into her neck. As soon as Beryl had called Kunzite back and proceeded to yell at him for failing in his mission, Endymion had taken it upon himself to approach Sailor Moon again. He wasn't normally one for involving innocents, but he had to get Sailor Moon's attention somehow. And he had no intention of actually harming her mother.

She just needed to think he would.

"Five minutes of your time. Alone," he emphasized.

"NO!"

"You can't!"

"Sailor Moon!"

"Usagi, don't…"

Sailor Moon dropped out of her attack stance and nodded her head. "Done."

Endymion's smile widened and he let Ikuko go. She ran forward and grabbed Usagi. "Usagi, you don't have to. I don't care what happens to me. He could hurt you and-your arm!"

Sailor Moon covered her arm and took a step back, towards Endymion. "I'll be fine, mama."

"I'll watch out for her, Tsukino-san," Endymion said as he slipped an arm around Sailor Moon's waist and teleported away with her, leaving the Senshi and Ikuko there to scream for him to bring Usagi back to them.

I've got one more chapter written for this and I'm well into the one after that. I've got another short story that I'll be posting as well so keep a look out for that, too, it'll probably go up around (American) Thanksgiving unless a week goes by with me not being able to come up with a chapter. I'm participating in NaNoWriMo this year so I don't foresee that as being a problem.

I hope you enjoyed this installment and if you did please review and let me know! For all of those who have reviewed, thank you very much, I appreciate it so much.

-Ginzuishou


	4. Five Minutes

Well this one ended up a little shorter than I thought, but it's still here. I've posted a couple of short stories the past few weeks one called "Pink" and the other "Not A Dream" that are both humor based that you might enjoy. "Not A Dream" just went up on Monday morning.

**A Little Late**

**Chapter 4/?**

The first thing Sailor Moon did when they rematerialized, this time on a lonely, rocky beach under a blazing sun, was punch Endymion in the face.

She had been spending a lot of time with Makoto, and she vaguely wondered, as her hand throbbed, if the taller girl was rubbing off on her. Right now she didn't care because Endymion had threatened her mother and that meant he was on her shit list.

Massaging his jaw where Sailor Moon had landed her hit, Endymion frowned and released her. "Nice left cross."

"Jupiter's been teaching me," she sneered back. "You threatened my mother."

"I'm not here to talk to you about that."

"You are now, because that's what you just did! We're going to talk all five minutes about it because it's what you did," Sailor Moon insisted, heat rising in her face as she thought more about it. "You had your sword at her neck, Ma-_Endymion_."

"And would you have come with me any other way?"

Sailor Moon had to give him that fact, because she wouldn't have come with him of her own free will any other way. He would have had to wait to snatch her again. He would have waited, of course, for that time if it meant getting her alone again, but this was easier. Quicker results.

Maybe that's why Kunzite was so quick to use others to further the cause to get the ginzuishou. It was just faster.

And Endymion certainly understood the need to see Sailor Moon faster.

Whatever was driving him the last two weeks had a hold of him like a tiger held its prey. He couldn't accurately describe the feelings, he just knew he had them. Did he dare say that this was an obsession? That Usagi was something he wanted, that since finding out her identity he felt entitled to her time, her space, to her? It wasn't anything like that. Or so it was what he had to keep telling himself.

He just wanted the ginzuishou, and he would wear her down until she gave it up to him. He would fight her until she did. He would use her identity against her, his leverage, until it was his.

"See," he told her triumphantly, "I just had to get you to where I wanted you, and if you wouldn't do it willingly, well then I had to use other tactics, didn't I?"

Sailor Moon chewed her lower lip, hating herself for thinking this, but knowing that until she could heal him she had to come to some sort of understanding with him. She couldn't have him popping up and threatening her family, or stealing her away in the middle of detention again. He didn't seem interested in hurting her, he never did, just in the ginzuishou, so maybe she had a shot at this.

But what if this was her chance?

"What did you want to talk about anyway?"

"I thought we were talking about me threatening your mother," Endymion said as he took Sailor Moon's hand in his and gently caressed her palm with his thumb. "And how I was such a threat."

Sailor Moon didn't yank her hand away, but found her breath caught in her throat from the touch. So familiar, and yet so foreign from what it had once been. Was he really the same man who used tease her about her hair, her eating, her crush on Motoki?

Yes, he was, she had to believe that.

"Now we're talking about what you wanted to talk about. Four minutes."

Endymion cursed. He had been wasting precious time arguing with her, and he still had no idea what he wanted to talk with her about, he just wanted her near him. He wanted answers for why he wanted her near him more than anything.

"What are you doing to me, Usagi?" He hissed out under his breath. "Do you know how often I watch you? That I try to find a time for when you're alone to steal you away from your guardians just to tell you that I hate you for what you do to me?" He still hadn't let go of her hand, and pulled her close to him, so that they were touching.

"Well you sure don't seem to hate it that much," Sailor Moon said with impunity, but then flushed when she realized what she had said, and how close they actually were.

Endymion's eyes flashed down to Sailor Moon's arm and he remembered what had happened in the final seconds of the battle. His hand traveled from hers up her arm to stop right under the burn that Kunzite had inflicted upon her. Endymion rubbed the pad of his thumb against the raw skin, causing Sailor Moon to flinch.

"If I had been around, I wouldn't have let him touch you."

Sailor Moon stepped away from him and covered the wound. "I can take care of myself, Endymion."

"Of course you can," Endymion said smoothly, still not liking the way that the burn looked. "You certainly held the youma off on your own. Ever since I found out your identity you've been training like your families lives depended on it."

Sailor Moon stood a little straighter. "Three minutes," she told him harshly. "Let's get something straight, you aren't going to go near my family again. Ever. I'm your target, and only me. Me and the ginzuishou. My family stays out of it. I don't care what you think, or feel, or anything, just leave them out of this now."

"I said before that I only brought your mother into this because I needed your attention."

"And you got it." Sailor Moon quietly stuck her hand behind her back and called forth the Moon Stick. If he was going to be calm and collected about this, then so was she. She began to collect power into the Stick behind her, and hoped that he wouldn't notice. "But you still haven't told me why yet."

Endymion fumbled for words, so unlike him as both Endymion of the Dark Kingdom and Chiba Mamoru, as he tried to explain away his need to see her. "That doesn't matter, does it? What matters is that you keep your family safe by listening to me."

Sailor Moon blew out her bangs, not liking where this was going, until an idea occurred to her. "Wait, you had nothing to talk to me about, did you? You just…you really just wanted to get me alone, didn't you? Endymion of the Dark Kingdom is just some low life pervert! Two minutes."

Endymion's eyes were like steel as she figured out his dilemma. He just wanted to be near her. Again. "That isn't it at all! You're going to – "

"Moon Healing Escalation!"

It had taken longer because she had been forced to do gather her energy so quietly, something she wasn't used to doing. Endymion hadn't seen the attack coming and it caught him completely off guard. He was enveloped in the healing warmth of the ginzuishou, immobilizing him and causing him to cry out as the dark energy inside of him was attacked.

Sailor Moon put all she had into the healing, knowing she had to get him back this time, that she couldn't fail. Mamoru was in there somewhere begging her to release him and she was going to save him from Beryl. She increased the power and watched as his hands went up to his head, a groan escaping his lips. She was reaching him, she knew it, there was just so much darkness.

She didn't know how long she held the energy like that, but just when she thought she'd made her break through, Endymion launched one of his tell-tale black roses at her, breaking her concentration. The power cut off and Sailor Moon dropped the Moon Stick on the ground with a cry.

"What did you think you were doing?" Endymion roared, angry at the amount of pain he was now in, and that he had never seen the attack coming. She had better skills that even he gave her credit for sometimes.

"Healing you, Mamoru-san!" Sailor Moon yelled back, picking the Moon Stick up and holding it out in front of her like a sword. While she wasn't sure how long she had held her energy, she said it anyway. "One minute."

"You think I'm going to just take you back like that after what you did?"

Sailor Moon looked at the burn on her arm and then at the Moon Stick. "I could try again. I almost had you back."

"I don't know what you're talking about. I was never yours to have."

Even as he said it, he grabbed his head, images filling his vision. Of another life, another person. Many of them revolving around the girl in front of him, sometimes as Sailor Moon, others as Usagi, and still others from even longer ago when she was known as Serenity. And this made less sense to Endymion. And it stirred sometime in him, something deeper than just the need to see her, just the want to know her. He still couldn't name it, and he was even more confused than before, and he knew it was her fault. She was planting fake memories in him, doing something with her magic.

"What have you done to me, Usagi?" Endymion demanded.

"It's working, isn't it?" Usagi was breathless. "You saw something."

"Your time's up!" he snapped, grabbing ahold of her and yanking her towards him. The ginzuishou, so powerful, so dangerous, was within his grasp, but he didn't want to touch it now. He was afraid that if he did something else, something far worse, would happen and the man he was would disappear.

A tinkling sound, the same song that he had heard that day at the lake, filled his ears and Endymion turned his unfeeling eyes to Usagi. "What is that? Why does it play when I'm near you?"

Sailor Moon swallowed and grasped the offending locket close to her chest. "One more time and you'll know why," Sailor Moon said, feeling her heart skip a beat as he pulled her closer again. "What if next time, and any time you want to 'talk', I come with you. You just have to ask me. Just say away from my family."

"Don't try your dirty tricks on me again."

Sailor Moon bit the inside of her cheek and nodded her consent. She'd have to get him during battle then, but she had no doubt she would be able to do this. "Fine. It's a deal."

Their time was up as it was signaled by the sound of Sailor Moon's communicator going off. "I guess I'll return you to your friends. They're obviously worried."

"They have good reason to be."

"I would never harm you, Serenity."

"Or tell Kunzite?"

"Or tell Kunzite. It would ruin my one lead over him."

As they faded back into the alleyway in Juuban, Sailor Moon wasn't entirely sure he was aware of using her 'real' name.

XxXxXxXx

"Call them. It's been six minutes," Mars ordered whoever would listen to her.

They had stayed in the alley to wait for their leader's return, and ensure that Ikuko was okay. The mark on her neck from the sharp sword had mostly faded, leaving only a faint bruise. She had calmed down relatively quickly, being a mother allowed her that, but she was still fearful for her daughter.

Mercury, though, listened to Mars and pulled out her communicator and pressed the symbol that corresponded to Sailor Moon, and waited for her to pick up, or hopefully reappear. Nervous energy was thick in the air and Venus paced, her heels clicking on the ground. Jupiter was leaning up against the wall, her arms crossed as they waited for Sailor Moon to get back.

Mercury was about to press the symbol again and this time, in a flurry of dark energy, Endymion appeared, holding on to Sailor Moon in a rather intimate embrace. They let go of each other and Sailor Moon managed one last longing glance at Endymion, who looked at her angrily before vanishing once more, no more words passing between them.

Ikuko ran forward and embraced Sailor Moon, who let her transformation melt away like snow on a hot spring morning. The others watched the exchange briefly before determining that there probably wasn't any immediate danger. Usagi's wound still needed tending to and they had to now debrief her on what had happened between her and Endymion. A lot can take place in just five minutes.

"Usagi, what's wrong?" Ikuko asked when she noticed that Usagi was crying silently. "He didn't hurt you?"

"No," Usagi said as she wiped at the tears, the star locket in her hand. "I almost had him, mama. I was so close." She sniffled and scrubbed at her eyes. "I won't lose him! I'm not going to lose him!"

XxXxXxXx

After fixing Usagi up, and patting her on the back for being able to open up Mamoru's mind to who he truly was, everyone went home. No one, however, was happy with her arrangement with Endymion. Rei yelled at her until she was hoarse about it before Usagi put her foot down that she wasn't going to allow him to terrorize her family, and he had said that he wasn't going to tell anyone else about it because it gave him an edge over Kunzite.

The Senshi didn't like it, Usagi felt like she was losing a bit of her freedom by agreeing with him, but what choice did they really have? They would just have to defeat him as soon as possible, bring him back.

At dinner that night it was obvious to Usagi and Makoto that Shingo and Kenji had been briefed on what had happened. It became more obvious when Shingo blurted out how cool it was that his sister took on a youma all by herself. Usagi had just mumbled her thanks and eaten a little faster at that, because her father was still a little uncomfortable with the whole situation, and she knew he definitely didn't want to talk about the fact that she had agreed to go off with Endymion anytime he asked.

After dinner, when Usagi was getting ready for bed, she heard a knock at the door. Makoto was downstairs helping Ikuko clean the dishes, Usagi had been excused from it for the night. Curious, she exchanged a look with Luna and called out. "Yeah?"

Shingo opened the door and stepped into Usagi's room. He was already in his pajamas and fidgeting uncomfortably, as though he was carrying the weight of something great upon his shoulders. Usagi regarded him with some suspicion, used to doing that because they were siblings after all, but when he sat down across from her, she realized that something was bothering him.

They sat in silence, neither one sure how to broach the elephant in the room, and Luna took a moment to scurry out the window. After a few minutes though, Shingo worked up the courage and he spoke.

"You know, I think you're super cool, Usagi."

Usagi blanched at this. Shingo's recent hero worship of her was still something she had to get used to. Not that she minded too much, it certainly beat how much they used to fight. It was just a little weird, that's all.

"Thanks, Shingo."

"But you don't have to put yourself in danger for us," he continued, trying to be brave. "I mean, that Mamoru guy isn't going to hurt us, right? He's just trying to scare you, and that's totally not fair."

Usagi smiled at him, her lips a little thinner than she meant them to be. "No, it's totally not fair at all. But it works."

"So what are you going to do?" he asked. "I mean, about this guy. You obviously like him and everything, and you've got that weird past life thing going on. I'm just afraid that…that…"

"That I'm going to get hurt," Usagi finished for him.

Shingo nodded solemnly, feeling a little lighter on the inside. "You're annoying, and a cry baby, and loud, but I don't want you to get hurt by some jerk whose been brain washed by an evil organization."

"Gee, thanks a lot for that."

"I'm serious!" Shingo exclaimed, suddenly full of energy. "These jerks, thinking they're just going to take over the world, walk all over my sister. I won't forgive them for this!"

Usagi gave Shingo a soft look, appreciating that this must have been hard for him, too. "Shingo, they aren't going to win. The Sailor Senshi always win, we've never lost a battle and the only thing I've ever lost is Mamoru-san. And I'm going to get him back. This world is ours to protect, nothing is ever going to happen to you, nothing is ever going to happen to me. Maybe it sounds strange, but I honestly believe I was reborn on this world to protect it, and to be happy. That my mother wouldn't have given me a second chance unless she thought I deserved it, or that I couldn't make it happen. So I'm going to, because I won't let anyone down."

Shingo sat there in silent reverence of his sister for a moment before he leaned back on his hands, let out a soft whistle and then said the two words that seemed to define his and Usagi's relationship. "Stupid Usagi."

That's it for chapter four, I think it's going to be an eight or nine chapter fanfic, but I haven't written the last chapter yet so I haven't decided exactly how long. We'll see how long it ends up with NaNo going.


	5. Revelations in the Snow

Here we are with chapter 5! I think this is the longest chapter I've written so far, lots of Endymion/Usagi going on here. I'd like to thank everyone for their reviews, it really keeps me going on these now cold nights of writing. It looks like we're going to be a ten chapter, or nine chapter and possible epilogue, fanfic now. That's much longer than the initial one shot this was supposed to be!

Thank you again for all of your support!

**A Little Late**

**Chapter 5/?**

With Endymion's declaration and Usagi's agreement, the immediate danger of attack didn't seem quite as imminent or dangerous. It felt more like a cold war with each side holding their finger over the button, just waiting for the other to make their move. Even Makoto's arrangement with the Tsukino's seemed superfluous with Usagi taking the risk she was with Endymion and, with Usagi's encouragement, she went back to her own home, which she had actually missed. Increased surveillance was still encouraged around Usagi, including someone walking her to and from school every day.

It had been three days since Usagi and Endymion had had their five minute meeting and Usagi was taking a break from her Senshi by having lunch with Naru and Umino, two sorely neglected friends. They were sitting under the shade of a tree for lunch at the front yard of the school, enjoying the mild weather and talking about what life had been like for them over the past several weeks. For Usagi's two friends, that involved mostly each other.

"And then Umino was like 'But Naru-chan, it doesn't smell like that at all!'" Naru laughed at the butt of her joke.

Usagi joined in her laughing, but Umino blushed and stammered about how Naru had misunderstood what he meant. Naru waved her hand and popped a piece of fried shrimp in her mouth. "I know, Umino, I know. So, Usagi, what have you been up to lately? I feel like I hardly ever see you anymore. Not that I don't understand that you aren't busy and all, but I've missed you."

Trying not to look uncomfortable, Usagi stuffed her mouth full of food and mumbled under her breath. "I've been spending a lot of time with my family."

"Oh yeah, you've got to spend time with your family, Usagi-san. It seems like you spend a lot of time with Makoto-san and Mizuno-san, too, tho-" he was cut off by Usagi shoving a piece of shrimp into his mouth and growling at him to shut up.

Naru looked a little put out, she'd been trying to not mention how much time Usagi had been spending with her new friends and she'd been hiding how much it hurt for months. She'd known Usagi for years and suddenly being dumped like this was upsetting to the point where she had wondered if they were even friends anymore. When Usagi had come to sit next to them during lunch she had been so shocked she had almost asked if Usagi was feeling alright.

"It's such a nice day today! It's too bad we still have to go back to school, isn't it?" Usagi tried changing the subject. "Maybe after school we could go to Crown and play some video games, Naru-chan! That would be fun, wouldn't it? We haven't done that in forever!"

Naru's face went from troubled to all smiles and she folded up the last of her lunch. "That sounds perfect, Usagi." Naru looked puzzled and then giggled behind her hand. "Hey, Usagi, over there at the gate, isn't that the college guy who's always teasing you about your hair?"

Usagi straightened up and glanced behind her to where Naru was looking. Standing at the gate to the school wearing a sports blazer, black pants and dark sunglasses was Prince Endymion. His gazed locked with Usagi's and she swallowed hard as her pulse sped up. He made a motion with his head and Usagi stopped breathing for a moment, not sure exactly what to do.

"Usagi, he wants to talk to you!" Naru squealed, grabbing on to Usagi's arm.

"Well, maybe…" Usagi drawled, hoping he would at least wait until after school. He motioned again, grinning at her when he noticed that she was with her other friends who seemed to be more encouraging than her Senshi.

"He really wants to talk to you! Hurry, go, before a teacher sees you!" Naru cheered, pulling Usagi to her feet and then pushing her towards Endymion. "I'll cover for you."

Tripping a little from the push, Usagi regained her balance and glanced back at Naru before cautiously approaching the front of the school. She passed by Ami and Makoto on her way, who saw what she was doing and when Makoto moved to stop her, Ami put a hand on her arm. It was an agreement, even if it was a terrible one.

Makoto glowered dangerously at Endymion, who smirked right back at her over Usagi's head.

"What are you doing here?" Usagi asked once she got to the gate that separated her from Endymion. "I agreed to see you, but you shouldn't have come to my school!"

He was so close that she could reach through the gate to touch him if she wanted to, but she folded her arms and did her best to glare at him, angry that he took advantage of their agreement so soon, let alone at all. And at school of all places! She then gripped the bars and leaned her head forward so it rested against the steel in front of her, her hair billowing around her.

Endymion snatched her hand and gently caressed the back of it, entangling their fingers together which caused Usagi to blush. "Walk through the bars," he instructed. "We're going out for the day, Usagi."

"I can't just walk through the bars!" Usagi said in disbelief. "That's a trick for people like you, not me."

Endymion kept ahold of her hand and tilted his head to one side, a grin still on his face. "You doubt me?"

"No, I doubt _me_. I can do some pretty awesome things, but walking through walls just isn't – oh shit!" she exclaimed as Endymion yanked on her hand and transferred power through their linked hands, causing her to slip through the bars as though they weren't there. She looked behind her and saw that she was now on the other side of the school's walls and she hadn't been hurt passing through the bars at all. "I just walked through metal."

Endymion grinned at her and let go of her hand. "Feels pretty good, doesn't it?"

"That was so cool!" Usagi exclaimed, drawing attention to herself from her friends who were still on the other side of the wall. She dropped her voice and eagerly faced Endymion again. "How did you do that?"

"I just transferred some of my power to you, it was easy really."

"Oh," Usagi said, fidgeting nervously. "Well, why are you here?"

Endymion brushed a bit of hair away from her cheek and looked at her tenderly. "Why else? To see you. I want to talk. Now, let's go, Usagi," he whispered, wrapping an arm around her waist and whisking her away from her school and off to where they wouldn't be found by either the Senshi or Kunzite.

They reappeared in a dense forest dusted with snow and Usagi shivered as a snowflake touched her skin and melted into a drop like a tear. Endymion removed his jacket and helped Usagi shrug it on so she was a little warmer. The cold didn't bother him so much with the Dark Kingdom's base being in the North Pole, one of the coldest places on the planet. Cold was always present around him when he was there, it was something he had quickly adapted to.

"Where are we this time?" she asked him, rubbing her arms to keep from shivering.

Endymion gazed up at the stars through the thick fir trees. "North America, Canada. They have cold winters here, much like your Hokkaido. I'm sorry for not bringing you proper attire, it didn't occur to me."

"I've survived worse," Usagi reassured him, straightening her posture and trying to make herself look more dignified in the frozen forest. "It's beautiful here."

"I thought you might appreciate it. You seem to have an eye for such things."

Usagi, hope still in her heart that the ginzuishou's healing light had touched him in some way. That maybe he saw this beauty as she did and was bringing her there to tell her this, or show her that she had facilitated a change in him and he liked what was happening.

"Do you like these things?" She looked up to him with that hope shining in her eyes only to have him look back at her coolly.

"This planet will not hope to have such aesthetic trifles once the Dark Kingdom takes over. It matters not to me," Endymion said in a mildly bored, but authoritative voice, certain of the Dark Kingdom's victory.

"O-oh. I see," Usagi stammered. "Well, what does matter to you? You seem to like roses at least. Even if they are black and kind of depressing."

Endymion moved a little closer to Usagi and a black rose appeared in his hand with a flourish, causing her breath to catch in her throat. She had never actually watched him do that before, only seen him pull a rose out of his jacket that time at the Starlight Tower. It may have been black, and kind of depressing, but she took the offered gift and sniffed it tenderly, finding that despite its outward appearance it still smelled just as beautiful as his red ones always had. His fingers brushed against hers when he handed her the rose and Usagi bit back a whimper. It was always the brushes, the tiny touches with Endymion. As though he was tormenting her with his touch.

"You don't seem so depressed to be receiving it," Endymion chuckled.

The sound brought Usagi back to earth and she opened her eyes, staring at the blackness before her. Startled, she dropped the dark bloom to the snowy ground and watched her breath come out in quick puffs before her. For a moment she had allowed herself to be drawn into his charms and forget the war, forget the battles. It had been so easy.

"I'm sorry," she gasped, feeling truly sorry for her actions, but not sorry that she had remembered her loyalties. "I can't accept any gifts."

"It was just a flower," Endymion said, his voice angry. "It wasn't going to harm you."

She retracted her hand from his and put it close to her heart, feeling the traitor beneath her breast pound ever faster as it told her that he was right, it was just a flower after all. "I can't be too careful, you use those to attack, after all," she reasoned.

Now Endymion did get angry and he lashed out at Usagi, pinning her against a large pine tree and she quaked with fear, his arms around her head. "We worked out an agreement, Usagi! I wouldn't threaten your family and you would come whenever I called. You are in no danger, what could possibly make you think you are in danger?"

Usagi winced and pushed as far back into the tree as she could, afraid of what he might do to her. Then she found her courage, remembering that just last time they had met she had almost purged his body of the darkness within. She was Sailor Moon, Princess Serenity, she couldn't be afraid of someone masquerading as an evil-doer. She had to take courage and show him that she wasn't going to be bullied by him.

"Endymion, if you don't back up right now, I'm going to transform and kick your ass back to the Dark Kingdom for trying to intimidate me," she said in a deadly voice.

Painstakingly slow, reminding Usagi that she was still not the one in charge of the situation, Endymion took a few steps back from her and lowered his hands down to his sides, a glare evident on his chiseled features. "I could – "

"You could what?" Usagi asked. "What are we even here for? What did you want this time anyway? You just showed up at my school, demanded I come with you and then we've been doing nothing!"

"I just wanted to see you, Usagi!" Endymion roared, cutting her off from saying anything else. "Ever since last time I saw you I've seen, in my head, images of you all the time. You yelling at me about something, sometimes you throwing things at me. Battles as Sailor Moon that I don't recall but seem to have happened. I don't know what's happened since our last battle, but you did something to me and I want answers, and I know that the only one who has those answers is you. It's all you, Usagi."

"Mamoru-san…" Usagi breathed, feeling relief watch over her at the confession. "You really are still in there. That is," she regained herself, remembering that this was _Endymion_, not Mamoru, and clammed back up, "do you want to know more about what you're seeing? I could tell you, maybe fill in some of the blanks!" she said eagerly. "Ask me anything! Anything!" Taken aback, Endymion blinked at Usagi's sudden enthusiasm. She spread her hands up towards the sky and twirled around, laughing joyfully in the falling snow at the only good news that she had heard in weeks.

"Well," Endymion began, grabbing Usagi's arm and pulling her to his side and stopping her from spinning, "I remember something about a shoe landing on my head. Your shoe." Usagi flushed bright red and turned to face him. He pressed his body close to hers and brushed his fingers against her cheek. "Is this a bad place to start?"

Usagi coughed, noticing how close they were, which caused her to blush even more. "No…it's just a simple story. I was on my way home one day and got really excited. I kicked my shoe off my foot and it landed on your head and you called me a name and we fought for a while before I took my shoe back and we went our separate ways."

"So we knew each other outside of the Dark Kingdom?"

"Yes."

"Well?"

"Not especially, but I'd say we were friends. What happened to make you forget that we knew each other, Endymion?" Usagi asked him. "You have to know at least that much."

Endymion frowned and dropped his hand from her cheek to her shoulder, suddenly realizing that in all of the blind adoration for Queen Beryl he had never asked himself several crucial questions. "I was told there was an accident during a battle with the Senshi…"

"There was," Usagi confirmed. "But it wasn't something the Senshi did. I'm just not sure I should be the one to tell you what happened, or if I should let you remember on your own." She thought about what Ami would do, about what the others would suggest she do, and she thought this seemed sound. "I think it's better if you remember on your own, or let me heal you, and then make your own choice on what side you want to be on."

"You talk about healing me, but what else would you do when you had me one your side?" he sneered.

Usagi touched his face and felt how chilled he was , despite how he seemed to be immune to the cold. "Don't you see, Endymion, those flashes you're having aren't something that someone else is telling you about, it's something that you're telling yourself about. The Dark Kingdom is keeping these things from you, and I'm not. I'll answer any question. Keep asking them. I promise, I'll answer them and we can work through this mess together until you're satisfied with what you remember."

Endymion regarded her cryptically and then he reached up and took her hands in his, enfolding them in his to help keep them warm. The snow had started falling harder and he recognized that she wasn't going to be able to stay outside much longer. But she had the answers to the questions that had plagued his mind for the past several days.

"What about 'odango atama'? Is that significant?"

Usagi wanted to get angry, she really did, that of all things he would remember, it would be that name. Of all things. But she couldn't, she was too happy that he remembered something. "Remember when I called you an SOB the other day?"

"Yes."

"It's because of that name."

Endymion blinked, and then he seemed to get it. "Your hair!" he laughed. "It's about your hair! Oh, that's clever!"

"It's not clever at all!" Usagi argued heatedly. "It's stupid and-and hurtful! And you're mean for calling me that."

"Odango atama, don't cry."

"It's Usagi! U-sa-gi!"

"I have done this before," Endymion said with a note of reflection in his voice. "It's very familiar, arguing with you."

Usagi pouted and rubbed at her now numb ears. "I never liked arguing with you, Mamoru-san."

"Endymion."

"Endymion."

Laughing at her expression, Endymion pulled her closer to him and dropped his lips close to her ear. "I think I used to like fighting with you. But don't tell anyone, I think it was a secret." He stood up straight again and took her in his arms. "I think it's time to get you back to Tokyo. It's a little cold here, even for my tastes. By the way," he continued as he prepared to transport them back to Tokyo, "how is your arm where Kunzite hit you?"

Usagi grinned up at him and flexed her arm. "It's almost fully healed. Third degree burn, though. Sailor Mercury was worried about infection for the first day."

"I was worried as well," Endymion said. "Now hold on tight," he instructed her. Usagi did as told and shyly wrapped her arms around his waist. He put an arm around her and they appeared in the living room of her home, right in front of Luna and Ikuko, who were having tea together. Ikuko dropped her cup and Luna hissed as soon as they appeared, her defenses kicking in.

"Let go of Usagi-chan this instant, Endymion!" Luna demanded.

Usagi jumped out of Endymion's arms and Endymion, with some reluctance, let Usagi go, his fingers lingering in her hair. He smiled at Ikuko and tipped his head. "I wasn't expecting to run in to anyone today. Forgive the intrusion Tsukino-san. Until next time…odango atama." And with that, he vanished from sight into the nether reaches of the Dark Kingdom.

Usagi sighed now that he was gone and Ikuko jumped up and hugged her. "Usagi! I got a phone call from your school that you left in the middle of lunch and I had to lie and say I picked you up for a doctors' appointment. Ami-chan and Mako-chan called and said Endymion was there and he got you. He didn't hurt you, did he? You're alright, you look alright," she said as she examined her daughter from head to toe.

"Mama, I'm fine, I'm better than fine! He's remembering!" Usagi gushed returning her mother's hug and then grabbing Luna and hugged her to her chest. "Luna, did you hear him? He called me 'odango atama'! And he remembered the name on his own! After using the ginzuishou on him he started to remember things and he wanted to talk to me about it. Isn't it wonderful?"

Luna went to answer her but she was already forgotten as Usagi moved to contact the girls and call a meeting for later that day to discuss what had happened between her and Endymion.

XxXxXxXx

Endymion rematerialized in his bedroom and felt it was much colder in here than it had been outside in the Canadian wilderness. He brought up an image of Usagi, who was now reassuring her mother that everything had been fine, and allowed himself to smile at her before Kunzite walked in to his room without knocking and he banished the image before him, hoping Kunzite hadn't seen her. If he did, Kunzite gave no indication and instead crossed his arms in defiance of being called upon to fetch the wayward prince once again.

"We have a job."

XxXxXxXx

Sailor Mars jumped out of the way of the youma's lethal sharp picture frames and glass and rolled into a crouch just out of its reach. Sailor Jupiter ran as another blast of fire was released from its mouth and landed on the other side of the store, hiding behind the counter, which partially melted. Having seen enough, Sailor Mercury put her computer away and opened her palms.

"Shabon Spray!"

The room was engulfed in fog, confusing the seven foot tall youma, which was covered in a red leotard and had once been a mirror shop clerk, which caused it to send glass flying everywhere in the confusion. Sailor Venus, who had been the accidental target during this set up, charged forward and kicked the youma in the back of the head, knocking it flat on the ground.

"Where the hell is Sailor Moon?" Mars finally barked out. They had been at this for nearly ten minutes and the shop wasn't getting any prettier.

"I called her!" Venus said. "She said she'd be here soon!"

"For your sakes, you had better hope she arrives soon," Tuxedo Kamen said, appearing behind Venus, a smirk apparent on his masked face.

"You," Jupiter swore. "You took her again today." She dodged more glass and pointed an accusatory finger at him. "One day I'm going to take you down for daring to lay a finger on her!"

"All we did is talk, Sailor Jupiter, you can't be angry about that."

Mars scoffed. "We can be angry about a lot more than that."

"Fire Soul!"

"Supreme Thunder!"

Mars had been aiming at Tuxedo Kamen, Jupiter at the youma, both shots missed their marks and it was Tuxedo Kamen's turn to scoff. "With aim like that, I'd certainly be angry."

"Crescent Beam!"

Venus' attack his Tuxedo Kamen in the arm and he cursed at how badly the beam of light burned him. The Senshi went back to fighting the youma, but Tuxedo Kamen swore that if there wouldn't have been severe repercussions from Usagi if he did something, he would have made a move against them at that moment.

But where was Usagi, anyway? She should have been there soon enough.

"Hold it right there!" The five people on the battlefield visibly relaxed, though there was a mumble from Mars that sounded suspiciously like 'About time'. "For love and justice, a pretty girl soldier in a sailor suit, Sailor Moon! In the name of the moon, I will punish you!"

"Sailor Moon," Tuxedo Kamen greeted her smoothly.

Sailor Moon smiled politely at Tuxedo Kamen before Jupiter whistled at the two of them. "Excuse me, we have a problem that throws glass over here."

"Right. Throwing glass youma!" Sailor Moon said, pulling out her Moon Stick with the ginzuishou. She ducked out of the way several times as the youma took aim at her, and even had to be pulled to safety once by Tuxedo Kamen when she tripped and couldn't move in time. She smiled gratefully at him and raised the Stick above her head.

"Moon Healing Escalation!"

"Refresh!"

The shop keeper, an older man with greying hair, slumped to the ground unconscious, but apparently unharmed. Sailor Moon breathed a sigh of relief and then turned to Tuxedo Kamen to thank him for helping her when something struck her.

The battlefield, Sailor Moon realized. She could attack him.

Steeling her eyes she raised the Moon Stick again and began again.

"Moon Healing – "

Tuxedo Kamen jumped away and appeared behind Sailor Moon, who also switched her positions, aiming at him again. "I gave you memories before, don't you want more of them?" she asked. "I'll give you all of your memories! Everything you ever questioned!"

"How do I know you're not lying?"

"Because I'm odango atama!" she begged. "I wouldn't lie about that. Please. Moon…"

He vanished.

XxXxXxXx

Kunzite watched the battle with interest. He had been ordered to set up the shop and to order Endymion to help out, and then to watch and see what became of everything after that. Of course both he and Queen Beryl had known that he would help Sailor Moon, he always did, it was a habit they couldn't seem to break him of, but they wanted to know more, see if there was something else going on that they should know about. He was hopeful that there was because he just wanted a reason to call Endymion a traitor and take his head before his mistress.

And as he watched Sailor Moon try to heal him, for what she said was a second time, it would appear there was something else going on.

"Because I'm odango atama!"

Kunzite's eyebrows shot into his hair at the nickname and the subsequent calming effect it appeared to have on Endymion. Oh yes, there was something going on that he needed to look into.

XxXxXxXx

Sailor Moon landed on the roof of her home and climbed down onto her balcony. She had left the door unlocked, as always, so she could go back in once the battle was over. She detransformed and yawned, glad the battle was over. She was so tired and wrapped up in herself, however, that she didn't notice Kenji sitting on the bed waiting for her to come home until he cleared his throat and startled her out of her reprieve.

At first she thought Endymion had returned for her, but breathed a little easier when she saw it was only her father. "Papa, it's only you."

"Only me? Ouch, Usagi, that hurts your papa!" he joked, knowing full well what she was talking about.

Usagi, who was in her pajamas, sat next to him on the bed and curled her legs under her. "What are you doing here? It's late, you should be in bed."

"So should you."

Usagi shrugged. "Duty calls. Someone caught Minako-chan in a trap and we had to go rescue her. I don't think she'll ever look at a mirror the same way again. I know I won't."

"So that boy…"

"I tried to heal him again," Usagi whispered softly, disappointment evident in her voice. "But I wasn't able to save him."

"I'm sorry. I know you want to help him. Is there…is there anything I can do?" he asked her, seeming a bit nervous.

Usagi shook her head and smiled at him. "You do enough, papa, you don't need to do any more."

"So you're sure there's nothing else I can help you with? I can't…be there in any other way with this whole Sailor Moon thing? I feel like I'm spinning my wheels with this." He looked off into the distance and seemed lost in his own world. "I don't know what to do to help you. Your mother's handling it so well and I don't know if I'm going to come home one day to find out that you died while I was just working like every other day of the week."

Usagi knew for a fact that her mother was only handling it as well as she was, and she wasn't handling it all that well, because she had Luna to confide in. "I'm not going to die, papa. I promise that I'm not going to die."

"You can promise that, but it doesn't mean those people can't hurt you."

"Papa, they will never get close enough to me to do more than scratch me. I won't die, I refuse to die. I'm too stubborn to die."

"And that boy…"

"Mamoru-san doesn't want to hurt me. He's too curious now, he wants to know about his past and how he knows me but doesn't know me. He didn't even ask for the ginzuishou this time around."

Kenji sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I guess that's a good thing."

"It's a good thing," Usagi reassured him. "I wish there was something you could do to help me, but all you can do is everything you've done right now and that's be right here and tell me I'm doing a good job. I am doing a good job, right?"

Kenji studied his daughter's face and his heart melted. "The best, Usagi."

Usagi smiled at him and threw her arms around him. "I love you, papa."

Well, it is a family story, too. Gotta have the family sap going on as well. Please remember to review, it's right over there! Thank you again to all of you who have, and continue to review, it's always appreciated! See you next week with chapter 6!

-Ginzuishou


	6. The Theme Park

Hello! Welcome to chapter 6. I hope everyone had a good week, as for my American readers it was Thanksgiving so I hope you enjoyed your time off, and your food! It was quite an exhausting one for me, that's for sure.

I think you'll enjoy this one, it was rather fun to write, a little more on the romancy side, but things heat up in other ways, too. We're on the other end of the story now so things are moving along nicely.

**A Little Late**

**Chapter 6/?**

Endymion picked Usagi up two more times in the next week, each time coming perilously close to kissing those damning lips of hers only to be stopped by Usagi herself when she would blush furiously and push him away, muttering something about her first kiss and a ball. Their conversations mostly revolved around the memories that were surfacing in Endymion's mind, with Usagi filling in the blanks and telling stories about the things they had done together, mostly as Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen, though he seemed to be more interested in her life as Usagi.

Mamoru. She would often refer to him as Mamoru and he wondered why he had told her that was his name. Was it an alias he had used to try and fit in on this earth while doing undercover work? Was it a name that she, herself, had given to him, or someone else entirely had. Had he picked it up for some other unknown reason, some reason that he couldn't see yet because his memories were still fuzzy and only tangible when he was around Usagi.

Usagi. Just being around her was like drinking a bottle of wine. Intoxicating, fulfilling, sweet, and a little different every time. He was beginning to lose himself in her. When she laughed, he wanted to laugh with her, he wanted to take her in his arms and twirl her around and delight in her squeals. When she would smile at him he wanted to keep her all to himself, save those smiles for him and him alone, but he knew that she wasn't a person who was to be kept apart from others. She was for everyone, not just him. Much as he may want to he couldn't whisk her off to a tower and hide her away from the universe.

Tonight he had been waiting for her down the steps of the Hikawa Shrine, clearly visible to the Senshi who were also leaving the meeting they were having to discuss well, probably to discuss him. He gave them their privacy at the Shrine, no sense in knowing what they had planned for how to 'get him back' or what their attack plans for the Dark Kingdom were.

So he stood at the bottom of the stairs, his hands in his pockets and watched as Mizuno Ami and Kino Makoto came down the steps together. They paused and reached into their pockets but he held up his hands, his usual charming smile on his face to put them at ease.

"I'm only here for Usagi. Not to fight today, Sailor Senshi," he reassured them. "By the way, how's the leg, Sailor Jupiter?"

Makoto glared at him and didn't answer, instead folding her arms across her chest and waiting for Usagi and Minako to come down the stairs. Usagi had been arguing with Rei about taking some manga, and Minako had agreed to stay behind and moderate the argument. It could still be several more minutes before Usagi showed up, and the tension would only continue to mount until she did. And Luna would then have to go home and tell her family that she was off somewhere with Endymion.

"It's not like I meant to hit you so hard. I may be after the ginzuishou, but out of respect for Usagi I'm not going to hurt you."

Ami curled her hand into a fist. "Out of respect for Usagi we are restraining ourselves as well."

Endymion chuckled. "I'm certain what the outcome would be if we fought."

Makoto took a dangerous step forward and raised her fist. "Usagi or not, don't you dare call our power into question."

"You couldn't even block a single attack of mine, what makes you think you'll be able to take me on head to head, Sailor Jupiter?" Endymion gloated, certain in his power. "It takes five of you to defeat a single youma and I am far more powerful than a youma."

"That's it!" Makoto exclaimed, raising her hand into the air.

"Jupiter Po-"

"Mako-chan, don't!" Usagi yelled as she came running down the stairs, having heard the commotion on her way down. She dropped the manga she had managed to borrow from Rei to the ground and put herself between Endymion and her Senshi. Minako moved forward on instinct, but restrained herself, knowing her princess' wish.

Usagi was panting and even had a stitch in her side from running so fast, but she kept them separate. She knew the Senshi didn't approve of it, but she had to keep unlocking the memories buried in Endymion's mind. And she knew that, on some level, Endymion didn't approve of her staying in her current situation. He would prefer if she did something else, changed sides maybe. She wasn't wholly certain of what he was looking to her for, but she knew it would come soon.

"Mako-chan, please don't fight him. You promised. Both of you promised," she said as she looked between her friend and her lover? Boyfriend? Amour? There wasn't really a word that she could describe him with. In one life they had been lovers, that much was certain, but she had no way to describe him in this age anymore. If someone had asked her before this had happened, she might have said enemies. Endymion was just…Endymion.

Makoto lowered her hand and glowered, muttering under her breath. Ami and Minako took positions next to Makoto, standing on the steps over Usagi and Endymion, who were on the ground floor. Endymion held his hand out to Usagi who looked over her shoulder at her friends as though she was saying she was sorry before she took the step forward and put her hand in his. The wind blew past them and when they looked up Usagi and Endymion were gone, off on another one of his strange trips to find out who he was without just letting her heal him.

Minako sighed and heard the approach of paws behind her. "Luna, do you want me to come with you to tell her parents?" she asked the advisor.

Luna sighed and hung her head, fear settling in her stomach. Every time this happened she couldn't squelch the feeling inside of her that maybe she wouldn't see her princess again, that maybe the argument they had that morning over sleeping in was the last one they would ever have. It wasn't a thought Luna liked to entertain, but she had to think about it because Usagi wouldn't.

"Yes, Minako-chan, I'd like some support."

XxXxXxXx

Usagi squealed in delight when they reappeared in the middle of a theme park in a foreign land. Usagi could hear them talking around her, in a language she couldn't even begin to fathom, she had enough problems with English! All around her were people dressed in thick coats against the cold weather, holding onto each other to keep warm and either prevent someone from slipping or taking them down with you. The lights and sounds were almost over whelming, but heartening at the same time and Usagi ran forward into the park, dancing in her happiness.

Endymion just chuckled at her antics, reveling in the differences between the two of them. The night and day, the moon and the earth, the polar opposites that they were. Nothing thrilled him more than watching her take joy in the little things he could do for her. It was getting harder to spend time with her, he knew that he couldn't keep taking time away from the Dark Kingdom without getting noticed but right now that didn't matter. Nothing mattered but her joy.

Grabbing onto Endymion's hand, Usagi took off towards the first ride she saw, a roller coaster, and dragged him along behind her. They rode rides for what seemed like hours before stopping for some hot chocolate, a beverage that Endymion found that he liked very much, before getting something to eat and riding more rides. Eventually they found themselves out of things to ride, but they decided to walk around the park, hand in hand, and talk once they were done.

"When was the first time we met?" Endymion asked her. "Do you remember it? It wasn't at that hair salon."

Usagi, who was eating ice cream despite the cold temperature outside, thought about the question. She had met Mamoru before she met Tuxedo Kamen, though she remembered meeting his two personas on the same day. "I met you the first day I became Sailor Moon, actually. But before I became Sailor Moon. I uh…that was one of the times I threw something at you," she muttered under her breath as an afterthought.

Endymion laughed at her. "What did you throw at me this time?"

Blushing from embarrassment, Usagi tapped her fingers together and debated on if she should lie to him about it, but knew he would see right through it. "It was a test paper," she said in a great rush of air.

"A what?"

Gritting her teeth, Usagi repeated herself, slower this time. "A test paper. I threw a test paper at your head."

Again, Endymion chuckled and put his hand on her head. "So you've thrown a shoe, a cup, your cat, and now a test paper, at me?"

"A failed test paper. You made fun of me for it," Usagi said gloomily.

"I used to make fun of you for a lot of things," Endymion said with a frown.

Usagi nodded in agreement, pointing to some popcorn that she wanted at a candy stand. "I guess we're not meant to ever be in complete agreement, are we?"

Endymion handed her the popcorn and then touched her face gently, a soft look on his face as he contemplated exactly what kind of treason he was committing.

XxXxXxXx

Ikuko wrung her hands when she opened the door to find Minako standing in front of her with Usagi nowhere in sight. As always her stomach knotted and she felt her palms begin to sweat and she did her best not to tremble, though it was hard when her fear for her daughter was so great. One day she wasn't going to come back, and whether it was because she was gone in the physical sense or if she had been taken over by the Dark Kingdom, Ikuko wasn't sure, but she was very much afraid of when this happened. The Senshi assured her that Usagi would never falter like that, but Endymion meant too much to her, more than anything else Ikuko feared.

"Minako-chan," Ikuko greeted the girl, keeping her voice steady. "Luna, Artemis, come in." She ushered the group inside and wiped her hands on her apron. "We just finished dinner, but I'm sure I can find something for you if you want. Are you hungry? Thirsty?"

Minako smiled forlornly at Ikuko and shook her head. "No, thank you, Ikuko-mama, you know why I'm here."

Gripping her apron tightly in her fists, Ikuko nodded once and then motioned for Minako to follow her. "Let's go sit in the living room. It's more comfortable there."

Minako had homework to do, quite a bit of it actually, but her friend's mother's sanity was more important than solving for 'X' right now. She put on a fake smile and followed Ikuko through the familiar house, passing Shingo and Kenji, who were doing dishes, in the kitchen. She waved to them and they exchanged a passing glance with each other, understanding what it meant for her to be there.

Luna and Artemis dutifully followed the two women into the living room and took seats in each of their laps, Luna with Ikuko and Artemis with Minako. Luna looked up to Ikuko and found her sitting straight backed and stiff, knowing the news, but still acting as though she was innocent to what she was going to hear. Luna wished she could take away this woman's pain, but to do that she would also have to harm Usagi, and she couldn't bring herself to do that.

"Endymion was waiting for us after our Senshi meeting, Ikuko-mama," Minako began. "There were some words exchanged between him and Mako-chan, but he left without fighting anyone. He took Usagi and that was about a half hour ago."

Ikuko looked at her lap and whispered, "She went willingly, right?"

"Yes," Minako replied, wincing as the word came out of her mouth. "She always does. You know she thinks she's going to trigger his memories."

Sighing a little, but also smiling, Ikuko absently began to pet Luna between the ears and looked wistfully out the window. "Yes, I know. Can we really fault her for that?"

As the goddess of love and beauty, Minako was the last person in the world who would ever fault Usagi for chasing after Endymion and trying to restore his memory, but that didn't mean she still didn't think it was reckless and even dangerous. She just understood it better than most. "No, we really can't. And that's why we just let her do it, I guess. That and she's the princess and can do whatever she wants when she orders us to," Minako laughed.

Luna and Artemis exchanged glances and then sighed, drooping their heads in unison. Usagi hadn't used her power of rank over the Senshi at all, that wasn't the type of person she was, but they had a distinct image in their heads of her doing this very thing and it was a worrisome image.

"Princess or not, she's my daughter and if I tell her not to do something, you had better believe she's not doing something," Ikuko reminded Minako.

Minako smiled at Ikuko, wishing, not for the first time, that her mother was a little more like her. She leaned back in her seat and sighed, the soft fabric cool against her skin. "Do you want me to stay here until she gets back?" she offered.

"Oh, I couldn't ask that, Minako-chan," Ikuko assured her. "I'll be fine. Shingo and Kenji are here. Luna's here." She hugged Luna tighter to her and did her best to look reassuring and in charge.

"I don't mind. It would be my pleasure to wait for her with you. Then I'll know she's home safely, too, and we won't have to go looking for her if she's gone too long!" Minako chirped happily.

Ikuko relaxed visibly and leaned back in her seat, expelling the air from her lungs in a great sigh and she was not so secretly relieved by Minako's insistence. "Minako-chan, you're a wonderful girl. I'll go and make us tea and get some cake. Just don't tell Usagi we're having cake."

Artemis furrowed his brow. "Wait, you just had cookies at Rei's house. If you keep eating like this you're just going to get fa-"

Minako found herself dumping her advisor unceremoniously on the floor, face first, a dark look on her face. "Don't you dare say it."

XxXxXxXx

Kunzite had been tracking Endymion for a week, but found him nearly impossible to keep up with when he was trying to hide. His energy signature was all over the world, though constantly in Tokyo, as though he was looking for something. So far Queen Beryl had not seemed to notice, or rather care about, Endymion sporadic movements, but Kunzite was making it his mission to bring it to bring it to her attention once he could prove something.

He was concentrating on Endymion's life force, trying hard to find him through his dark energy. His eyes were closed and he let the darkness overtake him as he focused. He had lost his energy signature hours ago, but suddenly he felt it flare up again, somewhere in Europe, and he opened his eyes, an evil smirk marring his face.

Then he frowned. Europe? Why would he be in Europe? Their efforts were strictly confined to Japan at this time because of the Sailor Senshi and no one had leave to go anywhere else at this time.

_No matter_, he said to himself. _I'll ascertain what he is up to_.

Kunzite vanished from the Dark Kingdom and followed his instincts to the amusement park in Europe, in Germany, and searched Endymion out. It was crowded and cold, but neither of these things bothered him. He preferred the solace of loneliness to the hustle and bustle of the crowds, but the cold was a welcome friend. It bit at him in such a way that was familiar and almost warming in its own way.

Using his instincts he wandered through the lights and the loud noises towards where he felt the strongest pull until he finally found what he was looking for. He could see Endymion's back and hanging off of Endymion was a slip of a girl, less than five feet tall with a similar hair style to Sailor Moon. She was laughing and talking with him in a sickeningly joyous manner and Kunzite sneered at the two of them in disgust.

So, this was Endymion's big secret, his great shame that he was hiding from Queen Beryl. Judging by the interactions with the girl it was something he would have to keep secret because it wasn't just a quick fling, he was laughing and had his arm around the girl. Oh no, this was something more, something deeper than just a quick little run around the block.

A girl. All of the running around was for a girl.

It made Kunzite want to laugh aloud and approach Endymion with his sword drawn so he could stab the girl straight through the back, revel in her death and Endymion's expected grief. He would never see it coming. He was too wrapped up in the little world they had created for themselves to notice something as insignificant as a power surge when he arrived.

Endymion was dressed in civilian clothing, it was clear that he was trying to blend in, it was quite possible that this girl had no idea what she was involved in by being with him at all. Kunzite didn't care. He drew his sword and parted the startled crowd with his very presence. The nearer he got to Endymion and the girl, the more certain he was of Endymion's idiocy for not sensing his presence.

He moved like ink through water, a dark presence that could only be detected if you were truly watching it. As he got within striking distance, he raised his sword and was about to run the girl through when Endymion whirled around and faced him, shimmering into his armor, his sword raised and protecting the girl from the strike.

"Kunzite!" Endymion yelled, half-surprised, half-angry.

"Endymion," Kunzite replied smoothly. "Who would have thought that the reason you had been slacking on your duties was for this tiny girl-child. I would have expected you to have at least gone for a woman."

Insulted, Usagi gripped her broach and puffed her chest up. "I am a woman!"

"Usagi, not now," Endymion told her, keeping all of his strength in holding Kunzite back.

"Oh, so you're Usagi. Well, Usagi," Kunzite said as he pushed Endymion back and held him back by keeping his stance strong, "do you have any idea what you are mixed up in?"

Usagi nodded her head. "The Dark Kingdom."

"So you told her," Kunzite sneered. "Queen Beryl isn't going to like this at all."

All around them people had gathered in a circle, as though this was a show to watch, and they were talking about how interesting and realistic it looked. Like a modern day fairy tale. Kunzite chuckled and looked to Endymion. "Do you hear what they're saying? Do you want them involved in this, Endymion? Do you want your woman involved?"

"She isn't my woman," Endymion snapped, which caused Usagi to take a step back in surprise from how forceful his words were.

Even Kunzite was a little surprised by this, he had expected Endymion to stand up for Usagi, but instead he just chuckled. "Well, isn't that sweet. The way I saw the two of you practically hanging off each other, I would have thought you were inseparable. I guess first impressions aren't always correct, are they?"

"Usagi, run!" Endymion instructed her. "I'll take care of Kunzite."

Usagi hesitated for a moment, but Endymion turned to her and, much more harshly than he meant to, pushed her away so she stumbled. "Go, now!"

"Right!" She knew what he wanted her to do. It would probably mean he would figure out she was Sailor Moon, but others wouldn't, and her secret would be safe, even this far across the ocean, but that just meant that they would have to make this the last stand against Kunzite. Everyone was interested in what was now turning out to be a rather spectacular sword fight in the center of the amusement park so it was easy to find an abandoned place to transform.

"Moon Prism Power! Make Up!"

In a flourish of ribbon and lights Usagi let the power wash over her and let out a shuddering breath. She had to get back to the battle and help Endymion fight Kunzite. It was an even match, but Kunzite would play dirty, and she knew that. Endymion would need her help. As she approached the fray she reached for her tiara and removed it from her forehead.

"Moon Tiara Action!"

The disc cut Kunzite along his back and was enough to give Endymion and opening to lunge forward, nearly running him through. But Kunzite blocked at the last second, grunting and panting at the attack. He turned around to see Sailor Moon now standing in the circle of civilians, who were cheering her on, enthusiastically enjoying their 'show'.

"You," he growled, the realization dawning on him. He looked between Endymion, who was ready to attack again, and Sailor Moon, who looked a little frightened of him. "You're that girl. Oh, this is perfect. Endymion, do you realize your treason?" he laughed. "You do, of course you do! You've been consorting with the enemy!"

"Only to get the ginzuishou!" Endymion argued, lying of course. He hadn't asked about the ginzuishou in days, much to his shame. "I don't see you making steps and finding out her identity to try and do that, Kunzite."

Kunzite's vision flashed red and he attacked again, this time going for Endymion's head. Endymion smirked and easily blocked the attacks. Attacks made in anger meant that there were a lot of mistakes and Kunzite was making all of them. His body was a mess of slashes and his clothes were tattered from the hits Endymion was getting in, though none of them were deadly.

Sailor Moon pulled out her Moon Stick as soon as she was certain that both men were sufficiently in their own world. She could hit them both at the same time, destroying Kunzite and saving Endymion.

"Moon Healing Escalation!"

Both men heard the words and jumped away in time to avoid the healing light of the ginzuishou and they turned on her.

"You bitch!" Kunzite bellowed, turning his sword on Sailor Moon, who deflected using her Moon Stick. She pushed him back and he lost his footing, leaving him open for a wide arc swing from Endymion, which he ducked. He was on the defensive now, facing off against the heroine and would be hero, people cheering the entire time, deafening him. He looked left, right, and then smirked when he realized that all around him were his answers.

Reaching out, he grabbed the closest person to him, a young man with blond hair and wrapped his arm around the man's throat, putting him in a choke hold. "If you don't lay down your weapons, I will kill this man!"

The man was laughing, waving his hands around and pretending to yell for help, but Endymion and Sailor Moon both stopped what they were doing and exchanged glances.

"You swear you'll let him go?" Sailor Moon asked.

Kunzite raised his sword and held the pointed blade to the tourist's throat, who until that moment seemed to be enjoying being in the center of attention. Then he felt the tip of the blade against his skin and went pale as a small cut was made on his skin and he yelped, crying out to his friends for help, who ignored, just laughing and jeering at him for being in the 'show'.

"Sailor Moon, we can't trust him!" Endymion hissed at her. "He could very well kill the civilian and then attack us for the ginzuishou again." And he knew that Sailor Moon would be vulnerable after that because that's how she was. She was too sensitive to other people and Kunzite knew that, it was why he was always able to take advantage of her.

Sailor Moon knew Endymion's words were true, but despite this she lowered her guard and leveled her gaze with Kunzite. "Your word, Kunzite."

Kunzite dropped the sword and thrust the man forward so he stumbled right into Sailor Moon and Endymion, almost causing Sailor Moon to drop the Moon Stick all together, but she managed to hold onto it and get the young man behind her, where he would hopefully be safe. But then Sailor Moon did as instructed and she put the Stick and ginzuishou away, sending a pleading look to Endymion to put his sword away.

Endymion swore under his breath and sheathed his sword at the glance Sailor Moon sent his way, knowing that unless he wanted to turn this into a blood bath, he would have to do as Kunzite wanted.

The audience, seeing the tides turn from the heroes winning to the evil doers began to boo and jeer, someone even threw some trash at Kunzite, who snarled in the general direction that it came from.

Sailor Moon perked up, realizing how much Kunzite was hating being in the center of all these people, but how much he was trying to use them against them. She just had to use them against him and let the fact that Kunzite was here, around people, stop bothering her. She could protect all of these people, she would protect them all because that's what she was there for, but right now she was going to get the crowd riled up and help her fight.

"Endymion, how have you been speaking to people since we got here?" Sailor Moon dropped her voice down so only he could hear her.

"Magic translator," he tapped his head. "Queen Beryl has one in all of her generals so we can speak the language of whatever country we are stationed in. To them I was speaking German."

"So all of these people will hear you speaking German even though you're speaking Japanese?" Sailor Moon asked excitedly.

Endymion looked at her skeptically. "What are you planning?"

"Talk to them excitedly. Get them all on our side and against Kunzite. Have them throwing things at him again if you can! Make it really like a show, like they think it is. Anything to annoy him more and so he'll keep his eyes off of me," she instructed.

Now looking at her as though she had grown an extra head, Endymion sighed and just said, "Okay."

"Everyone, do you want the evil doer to win?" Endymion announced, cupping his hands around his mouth to amplify the volume.

"No!" the crowd answered back in unison.

"Join me in fighting him! Throw things at him! That's right, like that, little lady!" he egged a small child on as she threw an empty soda container at Kunzite. "Kick dirt at him, tell him how bad he smells!"

Kunzite whirled and faced Endymion as he fought off the sudden onslaught of trash being thrown his way. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"This!" Sailor Moon yelled, catching his attention with a smug smile on her face.

"Moon Healing Escalation!"

This time Kunzite didn't have the time to flinch away or duck, he was too distracted by the trash-throwing and taunting he was receiving from his audience. He threw his cape over his head to try and protect himself with every bit of power in his body, but the pure light of the ginzuishou was too much for him as Sailor Moon gave her all into the Moon Stick and watched as Kunzite literally melted down from a full grown man into a piece of stone.

All around them the crowd had gone silent, awed by the spectacle they had just witnessed. They erupted in cheers, patting each other on the back and congratulating their children for their roles in defeating the 'bad person'. They were very impressed with the special effects and moved in to get autographs from the two stars of the show, but Sailor Moon made a pained face and glanced up at Endymion, who had the same look on his own face.

"I believe it is time we make a discreet exit, Sailor Moon."

Sailor Moon nodded her head and without preamble she wrapped her arms around Endymion, who put his own arm around her waist and the two of them shimmered out of reality, leaving a very excited theme park, but not before Endymion paused and picked up the stone that had once been Kunzite from the ground and put it in his pocket.

XxXxXxXx

It was very late at night and Minako was still sitting with the Tsukino's drinking tea. This was the longest Usagi had ever been gone before, and it was getting uncomfortably warm in the room as the question that they wanted to ask Minako continued to remain unasked. Even Shingo kept sending glances her way as the minutes ticked by and Usagi still didn't show.

When the clock struck midnight, Minako finally put an end to the charade that they were holding and reached into her pocket for her communicator. "It's alright, we'll find her, Ikuko-mama, Tsukino-san. I'll have Ami-chan get to work on locating her immediately. We probably should have started this an hour ago. I'm so sorry, I just kept thinking she would come home on her own. I'm the leader, this was my call and it was a bad call."

"It wasn't a bad call at all, Sailor Venus," a shockingly familiar voice said from the entryway. Minako whirled around, reaching for her pen, and saw Endymion standing there with Sailor Moon in his arms. He did not let her go and continued to speak. "We just ran into a bit of trouble with Kunzite, but Sailor Moon took care of him."

"Took care of…" Minako trailed off, letting her hands fall. "Sailor Moon, you destroyed Kunzite?"

Sailor Moon, still in Endymion's arms, looked extremely proud of herself, but exhausted. "It took some careful planning, but the two of us managed to take him down."

"Don't be so modest, Usagi, it was mostly you," Endymion said, removing himself from her arms and taking a step back. "I suppose now that I've proved that I can be trusted with your princess, again, I shall take my leave. Sailor Venus, Tsukino-san, Tsukino-san, Shingo. Usa…ko."

Sailor Moon blushed and stumbled through a goodbye as Endymion faded away. She faced her family, who looked ragged and tired and felt guilt slam into her like a truck. "Mama, Papa, Shingo. I'm…I'm sorry. I really didn't know how long I had been gone. And Kunzite did attack us. In a crowded theme park. He took a hostage and I had to save him!"

Minako folded her arms and watched Usagi detransform. "He took you to a theme park? Like a date? And is calling you 'Usako'?"

Usagi blushed harder this time, not comfortable discussing the subject of Endymion in front of her family, especially her brother and father. "We talked about his past, his memory some. But I guess…maybe it was like a date?"

Luna padded over to where Usagi was standing, a fierce look on her face. "Usagi-chan, this has to stop. You're letting yourself get in too deep with Endymion. He's going to betray you."

"Luna's right," Artemis agreed from the couch. "Endymion is just using you to try and get the ginzuishou and once your guard is down enough he'll snatch it from you and he may even kill you."

"He isn't going to betray me!" Usagi admonished. "How can you even say that when I've made so much progress with him?"

Ikuko listened to them argue for several minutes and then looked at her daughter carefully. Her flushed face, her flaring nostrils, the tears in her eyes and she said the words that no daughter ever wants to her from her mother's mouth.

"Usagi, I don't think you should see that boy again."

Longest chapter yet, though not by much. I hope everyone enjoyed it, and thank you all for your reviews, they are always read, and always, always appreciated. I can't say how much. I recently cracked 50 follows on this story, which is way more than I thought I would, so let's keep that going!


	7. Not Holding Back Anymore

Sorry about last week, everyone! It was my birthday and my best friend surprised me by flying out to visit me so I was pretty busy and didn't post. But I had a good time. :D

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, as always I can't thank you enough. This story has definitely not gone the way I thought it was going, but who's counting? I hope you still find it interesting.

**A Little Late**

**Chapter 7/9**

Endymion laid the stone that had once been Kunzite in front of Queen Beryl and backed away slowly, bowing as he did so. He had told his version of events, severely edited to not include Usagi in them at all, of course, and was awaiting his ruler's response. The dark energy swirled around them and the youma that made up her court were in a hushed reprieve as Queen Beryl pondered his version of events, the only version she had to go on, and they waited for her to give her ruling.

"Kunzite was weak, like the other Shittennou before him," Queen Beryl finally announced, much to Endymion's relief, but not shock. "He served me well, but it is no surprise that his jealousy eventually made him turn and try to take your life, Prince Endymion. You are for more powerful than he could ever hope to have been." She smirked and touched her fingers to her lips. "Tell me, did you make him suffer?"

Endymion knew that because Sailor Moon had been the one to actually kill Kunzite there had been no suffering, not even a scream to indicate that there was any pain. But he knew what the answer was that the queen was looking for. "I made sure he tasted what pain truly was before I killed him, my queen."

"It would seem that you're my last general, Endymion. I expect you to have a new plan for me by the end of the day on how to take care of those Sailor Senshi."

XxXxXxXx

The next day was a sunny day filled with deep regrets at the Hikawa Shrine. Usagi sat with her legs tucked under her chin, having just relayed the entirety of her tale from the night before regarding Endymion and Kunzite to the Senshi. They were enthralled, impressed even, with the story of how Usagi had managed to use Kunzite's own plan against him. Luna had scolded her for not taking the fight to a less populated area, but Usagi had felt bad enough about that, and had little options when it came to Kunzite. He set the rules for fights, or had. Now he was nothing more than a rock.

Now their only obstacle to Queen Beryl, and subsequently Queen Metalia, was Endymion himself.

Endymion – who seemed perfectly content to lead Usagi around by the nose and use her for some unknown purpose to fulfill some unknown need. Now made worse for Usagi by the fact that her family was no longer going to support her decision to attempt to free Mamoru's soul from the Dark Kingdom. Everything was falling down around Usagi, even with the defeat of Kunzite.

"What are you going to do, Usagi-chan?" Makoto asked while she helped herself to one of the cookies she had brought with her to the meeting.

Usagi relaxed her legs and stretched out a bit. She had been up all night thinking about what she was going to do, and come up with nothing so far. She didn't want to disobey her parents and Luna, but she didn't want to continue to leave Mamoru to the tender mercies of the Dark Kingdom. Not to mention she wasn't sure how Endymion was going to react when she told him she 'wasn't allowed' to see him anymore. She just had a feeling it wasn't going to go over very well.

"Usagi?" Rei asked when Usagi didn't answer Makoto's question.

Head down, Usagi shook her head and whimpered a little. "I don't know. Mamoru-sa-Endymion," she corrected herself, "isn't just going to give up if I tell him mama doesn't want me not to see him anymore. He might attack her! He said that as long as I went with him, he'd stay away from them, so I have to go. But I don't …I don't…" she trailed off.

"You don't want to go against your mother," Ami said compassionately, her face soft and understanding. "Usagi-chan, we understand. But it's dangerous, you have to understand that. He's dangerous."

"Ami-chan's right," Minako agreed, selecting another cookie and swallowing it down with a gulp of tea. "We know he's had it in for Kunzite for weeks, you were just a means to an end there. He's not going to be all that disappointed that he's gone, in fact I think we should be prepared for him to reward you for what you did."

"Reward her?" Rei said. "Reward her how?"

Minako closed her eyes and counted to three. She had been up most of the night thinking about what Usagi had told her, preparing for what they would likely encounter because of this. None of what she could figure was positive, and some of it made her feel more than a little uncomfortable. But the red cord of fate tightly bound Usagi with Mamoru, it had for at least one previous life time, if not many others, so expecting him to just back away at this point was a futile hope.

"I think he may become more aggressive," Minako explained. "From all that Usagi-chan has told us Endymion is basically enthralled with her. He's tried to kiss her, he's constantly holding her, he's making advances that are blatantly sexual in nature." Everyone was staring at her and she blew out her bangs. "He's got the hots for her, duh."

Usagi and Ami blushed while Makoto and Rei nodded sagely. Luna and Artemis just sighed.

"On that note," Luna said, "I understand how hard it will be for you to not see him, I know how much it means for you to try and get his memories back, Usagi-chan, but you must – "

"What about my family?" Usagi asked. "Why is no one concerned about my family?"

"We discussed this last night. Your family is willing to take the risk while you sort out the problems with the Dark Kingdom."

"Well I'm not willing to risk them!" Usagi argued, her cheeks now flushed with anger. "They don't get to make those decisions! What if they die? What if Endymion kills them, or sends a youma after them? Or captures them and holds them prisoner to make me do things against my will? Has anyone thought about that?"

Ami motioned for Usagi to lower her voice. "And what if something happens to you when he comes to collect you, Usagi-chan? Have you ever thought about that?"

"Of course! I always think about that," Usagi reassured her. "I don't just go with him and forget about you guys or the mission. It's always about the mission."

"It just so happens that the mission is about restoring your previous lovers memories, so it doesn't hurt," Makoto teased lightly. She then became serious and her voice was a little darker. "But even though you've made some headway you can't always trust him."

"I know, Mako-chan, I know," Usagi moaned. "But I have to keep trying."

Artemis furrowed his brow. "Has he asked about the ginzuishou lately?"

"No, not in the last two times I've seen him," Usagi said with a shake of her head. "I thought that was a good thing."

Luna and Artemis exchanged a look that plainly said that they were relieved about this, but that they also didn't know what to make of it. "If his goal is strictly to get the ginzuishou, it doesn't make sense for him to stop asking about it," Artemis conceded.

"No, I suppose not," Luna agreed.

"Well, we know that's not all he wants," Minako pointed out. "He's been asking questions about his past, but for him to drop the ginzuishou topic completely must mean that his past is more important than his present."

Rei shrugged her shoulders. "I haven't been able to get any insight to this from the fire, or any visions. All I can say is that there is a general state of unease anytime I ask for guidance. Nothing specific."

"That's worrying," Ami mumbled in a soft tone. "But not as worrying as our current conundrum. Does Usagi-chan keep going to see Endymion, or…"

"Or what?" Makoto asked.

"Or do we make a final stand against him next time he comes for Usagi-chan and defeat him, get his memories back and bring him back to our side."

"Ami-chan, we've been trying to do that for weeks now," Rei said, leaning her head down on the table. "It's not that we can't do it, it's just not that easy."

"Yeah," Minako agreed. "Usagi's already almost done it once and even that wasn't enough."

Usagi curled into herself a little and listened to them go back and forth on her life, wondering what conclusion would eventually be drawn. She had already come to it the night before, of course, and that was that nothing would change. She would keep risking herself, but she wouldn't risk her family like she had been before. Even if it meant going against her parents. She didn't want to, but what other choice did she really have?

Rei slammed her hand down on the table suddenly and leveled her gaze upwards. "You!" she hissed.

Usagi turned around to where Rei was looking and jumped a little. Standing right behind her, dressed in his typical black pants and black shirt, was Endymion. She leapt up with the others, all of whom reached for their transformation pens, and backed up, nearly falling backwards over the table in Rei's room.

"Endymion, what are you doing here?"

Endymion cocked his head to the side. "I'm here for you, of course," he said as though it were obvious. "After yesterday, I thought I would take you out to dinner, it seems only fitting we celebrate our victory. Oh, please pardon me if I don't invite the rest of you," he addressed the other Senshi. "I think you will be a bit crowding."

Makoto growled under her breath and cracked her knuckles. "I'll show you crowding, pretty boy."

"Now, now, Sailor Jupiter, we promised," he taunted back at her.

Usagi sent Endymion a pained look. "Endymion, please, don't."

"Well, why shouldn't I? You were, after all, talking about fighting me. You were seriously talking about attacking me and finishing the job you started last week, weren't you Usako?" He reached forward and grabbed her by the neck, shocking everyone in the room. "Weren't you?!" he demanded.

"Put her down now, Endymion!" Minako ordered.

"Venus Power! Make Up!"

"Mercury Power! Make up!"

"Mars Power! Make Up!"

"Jupiter Power! Make Up!"

Endymion dropped Usagi, who coughed and choked for air and vanished only to reappear right outside the door. "Come at me, if you dare, Sailor Senshi."

"Mercury, check on Usagi-chan!" Mars ordered before rushing out of the room with the others, following Endymion as he led them into the courtyard.

Mercury kneeled down next to Usagi, who was rubbing at her bruised throat. "Usagi-chan, are you alright?"

"Yeah," Usagi coughed. "Yeah, I just didn't see that coming."

They could hear the battle sounds from the courtyard and Mercury helped Usagi stand up. "Can you fight him again, Usagi-chan?"

Usagi put her hand over her locket and heard Mars call out her attack. Inside, she was a mess, tangled up and twisted as she thought about what was to come. This was going to have to be it. Just like last night had been her final battle with Kunzite, today she had to get Mamoru back. She didn't have a choice.

"I'll get him back," Usagi said with determination.

"Moon Prism Power! Make Up!"

XxXxXxXx

"Crescent Beam!"

Endymion blocked Venus' attack with his sword, and then slashed at Jupiter, who ducked and rolled out of the way, landing with cat like grace on her feet. He smirked and jumped at Mars, who was trying to prepare her talisman to use against him and stopped her before she could complete her chant. He was too fast, too bold, too good to be taken down by mere _Senshi_.

The three Senshi faced off against Endymion, wondering if they could combine their powers to subdue him, or destroy him if that was what was needed. They knew that would tear apart their princess, but right now keeping her, and the hope for the planet, alive was more important than Mamoru's life. They didn't want it to come down to this, but there was little choice in the matter.

"Are you afraid, Sailor Senshi?" he taunted them. "Afraid to fall on my sword?"

"You wish," Jupiter said between clenched teeth. "Now!"

"Hold it right there!" Sailor Moon cried out as she entered the battlefield, hair whipping in the wind and Sailor Mercury in pace right behind her. "I'll be your opponent."

Endymion cocked an eyebrow at Sailor Moon as she stepped in front of her Senshi and took a battle stance. "You sure you want to do this, Sailor Moon? What do I get if I win?"

"Me. And with me comes the ginzuishou." She gulped back the butterflies in her stomach. "You get exactly what you want."

"Sailor Moon!" the Senshi gasped together.

Venus ran forward and grabbed Sailor Moon by the arms and, with a look of absolute crushing despair on her face, exclaimed, "Sailor Moon, you can't!"

But Sailor Moon shrugged Venus off. "Yes, I can. And I will." She smiled at Venus and took her hands off of her very gently and with a sad smile. "Don't worry, we'll go home soon. I just have to finish this up really fast."

"Usagi-chan…"

Endymion stuck his sword into the ground, admittedly intrigued. "And what do you get?"

"If I defeat you I'll get everything I need," Sailor Moon told him, her Moon Stick at the ready.

Endymion pulled his sword out of the ground and mock-bowed at her, a smirk on his face. "Well then, shall we dance, Sailor Moon?"

From behind his back he pulled out a rose and threw it at her, but she ducked out of the way and came at him with a reverse side-kick, which he blocked easily with his left arm. From there she landed heavily and tried to land a punch on him but he phased out from in front of her and came up behind her, ready to slash with his sword. She turned and ducked out of the way just in time to come up behind him and knock his feet out from under him sending him to the ground with a grunt.

Sailor Moon stood back up and held her Moon Stick out in front of her and began to gather the energy.

"Moon Healing – "

A rose sailed her way and Endymion was up again, this time as Tuxedo Kamen, this cane ready like his sword. He met Sailor Moon's Stick with a resounding 'thwak' and the two held there, each pushing against the other, digging their heels in to try and force the other to fall backwards on their own power. Around them, the Sailor Senshi shouted encouragement to Sailor Moon and jeered Tuxedo Kamen, though they felt a little odd about doing so, because they knew this was not a fight they could interfere in.

Finally Tuxedo Kamen was able to get the upper hand and he pushed Sailor Moon away from him and then hit her in the side with his cane which caused her to wince at the pain. She ran forward though, recovering quickly, and elbowed him in the gut, which caused him to double over. She followed that with a swift punch in the face, but found that probably hurt her more than it hurt him, as it had the other day, and retreated back to the safe distance where she could try to power an attack up again.

"Moon Tiara Action!"

He easily batted the tiara out of the way and threw a barrage of roses at Sailor Moon in response. Sailor Moon directed her tiara in front of her to protect her, causing a small explosion of magical energy when the two met. Sailor Moon covered her eyes for a brief second, but then went back to the battle, only to find that Tuxedo Kamen was a step ahead of her and nearly on top of her. He went to hit her with his cane again but she leapt out of the way, just barely missing, and jumped over Tuxedo Kamen's head to land gracefully on the other side of him.

They turned simultaneously so they were facing each other and only inches apart, breathing heavily and shaking from the energy exhausted from the brief battle.

"Kiss me," Sailor Moon whispered against his lips, so close she could almost taste him already.

Tuxedo Kamen did as she ordered, not questioning her, or the need that surrounded him to follow this compulsion. He had been denying himself for two weeks and now as he kissed her he had to wonder why. Her lips were soft, sweet, and she was making little sounds of pleasure beneath him as he continued to kiss her. He let his lips devour hers and it wasn't until he became desperate for air that he broke the kiss.

They were both breathing heavily, now for a different reason, when Tuxedo Kamen snaked his arms around Sailor Moon's waist. "Now what was that – "

In the middle of his sentence he stopped, a sudden warmth flooding through him like nothing he had felt before. It started in his core and spread through his body like wildfire, consuming him. He pulled away from Sailor Moon and grabbed his head as images, long forgotten, began to explode in his mind and overwhelm him. He groaned and sank to his knees, excruciating pain all he was able to think about as his memories came back to him.

Sailor Moon and the Senshi watched in horror as Tuxedo Kamen screamed and crumbled to the ground. His transformation faded away and him and he was left in the simple black garments that they had come to see him in when he had appeared in 'civilian' clothes as Endymion. They approached him with caution, not knowing what, exactly, had happened.

"Why did you have him kiss you?" Mars asked.

"I don't know!" Sailor Moon said as she kneeled down and pulled Endymion's head into her lap. "It just felt…right. I was really, really…ugh. I can't explain this to you. You've never been in love."

Mars flushed and stamped her foot. "I have so been in love! What makes you think I've never been in love?"

Mercury pulled her computer and visor out and started doing scans of Endymion. She was staying out of this fight.

"I don't think she meant that, Mars," Jupiter tried to placate the fire Senshi. "I think she just meant that you're not in love now."

Venus jumped on the explanation bandwagon before a fight could break out, agreeing with Jupiter and covering Sailor Moon's mouth with her hand. "After all, are we all lovers of the past and present, are we not?"

Jupiter looked at her strangely and Mars just sighed, "Do you have any idea what you're talking about?"

Endymion groaned and everyone turned their attention from their would-be fight to him, and the possibility that they might still have to fight him.

"Endymion?" Sailor Moon asked tentatively.

"Mamoru," he replied back, his tongue thick.

Sailor Moon gasped, and grabbed onto his hand. "Mamoru-san? Mamoru-san is that you?"

Mamoru groaned and then looked up at Sailor Moon from his place in her lap. He smiled. A true smile, not a smirk, not a grin, but a smile that showed he was truly happy. He reached up and touched her face gently. "You found me, Usako."

"So I'm still 'Usako?'" Usagi asked him, a light blush on her cheeks, which faded in realization. "Wait, you remember all of that?"

Mamoru's eyes darkened and he pulled away from her suddenly, ashamed of what he had done. "Yes, I remember it. I remember everything." He sat up so he was facing her and snatched her hand. "Usako, can you forgive me?" he whispered. "I threatened your family, tried to kill you, your friends. I caused havoc in the world, I did terrible things that I have no excuse for – "

"Except for the fact that you were brainwashed," Sailor Moon said softly, kissing his palm. "Not forgiving you would be like not breathing. There's nothing to do, it's automatic."

Around them, all of the Senshi were in various states of fawning over the couple, except for Mercury who was making sure that no dark energy remained in Mamoru's body. After a few minutes she gave the all clear and Jupiter helped him stand.

"I guess the most obvious question you're going to ask is where are they, isn't it?" Mamoru finally said after they waited for several minutes in tense silence.

"That was going to be top of the list after are you going to kiss Usagi-chan again or not, yeah," Venus said. When everyone stared at her blankly she snapped at them, "I have my priorities!"

Mamoru chuckled, kissed Sailor Moon on the cheek and then turned back to the rest of the Senshi. "The North Pole. D Point."

Mercury was typing furiously into her computer and it beeped at her after a few seconds. "It's blank," she muttered. "The entire D Point is blank, almost as though it doesn't exist at all. How could I have missed this?"

"Metalia is going to be ready soon, so we'll need to make our move soon," Mamoru continued as his mind cleared up. "Especially since I won't be returning to Beryl, she'll become desperate."

Sailor Moon touched his arm, drawing his attention down to her. "You let us worry about Beryl. Right now, let's get you home so you can rest."

XxXxXxXx

"You didn't have to walk me home, Usako," Mamoru said as he fished his spare keys from his hiding place and entered his apartment. They had spent some time at the temple going over everything that Mamoru knew, every detail he could remember, and discussing their strategy for when they went after Beryl and Metalia sometime in the next couple of days. Time was short now

Usagi smiled softly and closed the door behind her. "How else was I going to get you to myself for a few minutes, Mamoru-san?"

Mamoru chuckled and set his keys down on a nearby table. There was a thin layer of dust gathering on his things, but he paid it no mind as he walked back towards where Usagi was standing at the door. "Cleanse me of evil, have me lean on you on the way home, not exactly a romantic night."

"More romantic than killing Kunzite in the middle of a theme park," Usagi pointed out dryly.

"Oh, I don't know about that," Mamoru murmured, still feeling more than a little malevolent towards the dead Shittennou.

Usagi laughed and sauntered up to Mamoru, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Mamoru-san, kiss me again."

"Wait a second," Mamoru said against her lips, pulling back. "How did you know the kiss was going to work? That you'd cleanse me of the dark energy by kissing me?"

Usagi looked down and then met his eyes and winked at him. "That's my little secret." Because she hadn't known, she had just felt, hoped, deep within her heart, that something would work, and at that moment when she had wanted him so badly that had been what she wanted to work more than anything. A kiss, like in the fairy tales. True love's kiss.

Mamoru leaned down and his lips met Usagi's in a passionate kiss, melding the two of them together, for nothing could tear them apart.

To be continued…

Okay, so that's corny as all hell. Even I think that. But I'm like that with romance, it's just…corny. I almost, ALMOST, ended it here. But where's the fun in that? We still have D Point. *grin*

Please review, or favorite, or what not, I'd appreciate it.

-Ginzuishou


	8. The Cry of War

And we're in the home stretch. Only one more chapter after this. Thanks going out again to everyone who has reviewed, favorite'd, and followed this story to this point. This chapter is short, but next chapter will make up for that.

**A Little Late**

**Chapter 8/9**

The next day rolled around and Usagi found herself awakening warmer and more comfortable than she ever had before. She looked around, alarmed at first because she wasn't in her bedroom, but then the night before came back to her and she realized she wasn't alone, either. Holding her firmly around the waist was her, well, she still didn't know what to call Mamoru. They had spent the night together but weren't lovers. They weren't dating per say. He hadn't proclaimed his undying love for her at some point during the night and they weren't planning on running off and getting married like their past life counterparts had often talked about.

They had spent much of the night talking, very carefully talking, about his time as Endymion of the Dark Kingdom. At first she was afraid to bring it up, that he wouldn't want to talk about something so dark and harmful as having your life ripped from you just when you were getting your answers, but he slowly opened up to her and poured out his secrets, what he had been thinking, why he hadn't been able to really harm her, how sorry he was for all of the harm he had actually caused her. Usagi had put her finger to his lips every time he apologized and shook her head, indicating there was no need, it wasn't him. He would kiss her finger and continue on with the story, feeling vastly inferior to this girl who he had been blessed to know. Who refused to give up on him.

Mamoru confided in her about Beryl expecting him soon with a plan to destroy the Senshi, and if she didn't already know that he was missing, she would soon and she would be beyond anger. They would need to strike now, not later, and they had to find a way to D Point. Usagi agreed with him, feeling her stomach twisting and turning like a pretzel as she did so. She had grown so much stronger these last few weeks, proven herself to be a more capable warrior, but she couldn't help but feel that she wasn't ready for this step.

Late into the night, well towards midnight, they realized the time. Usagi moved to go home, knowing her family was waiting for her, but it was Mamoru who reached out and took her by the arm, his head down and voice soft when he asked her not to leave. To stay with him for the night and keep him company, and most of all to stave off the nightmares that he feared were going to come.

Usagi had smiled, called Luna on the communicator so she could tell her parents her plans, ignored her advisors' protests and so she stayed.

They had kissed, mostly chaste and innocent, huddled together in his bed. Mamoru gave her some of his pajamas which were so big on her that she practically swam in them when she had to roll up the cuffs and pant legs, but he couldn't deny that she looked adorable in them. She had pouted when he teased her about it, and pouted even more when he asked her if she slept with her hair up like that, reminding him that this was a hair style suited for royalty after all.

Mamoru had a single nightmare that night, which woke him up screaming. In his hysterical state Usagi managed to get him breathing normally again and he was able to tell her what he saw. He told her that he saw her body, lying on the ground broken and bloody. That she was dead by his sword and he was relishing in his victory over the white moon, Queen Beryl at his side. He had vomited over the side of the bed, feeling that it was so real and all Usagi could do was hold him and remind him that not only was it not his fault, she wasn't going to let Beryl hurt them again.

She vowed it.

After cleaning up, the rest of the night had passed in relative peace, Mamoru had only grumbled and rolled around in his sleep while Usagi stroked his hair back and whispered lovingly into his ear before she finally succumbed to her own dreams, which were strangely vivid and of her previous life on the moon. Once or twice she swore she saw her mother calling out to her only to have her fade away like so much smoke in the dark.

Now awake, Usagi loathed to rouse Mamoru because he had such a rough night. She checked the clock and it was only eight, too early for her on a Sunday. But she also had to get home as soon as possible so she could be punished for staying at a boys house, without a chaperone, all night. If word of this got out her reputation would be ruined, but as for that part Usagi couldn't bring herself to care. She wasn't going to just leave Mamoru alone with a note, though. She was going to say goodbye properly until they met up later in the day back at Rei's. A meeting she knew her parents wouldn't stop.

Tripping over her too long pajamas, Usagi kneeled next to Mamoru's side of the bed and brushed raven colored hair out of his face. "Mamo…Mamo-chan," she whispered softly, blushing a little. "Mamo-chan, you need to wake up." Mamoru moaned softly and so she shook his shoulder a little. "Mamo-chan, please wake up." She leaned forward and kissed his lips softly and after a few moments found that the kiss was being returned. She moved away, but he followed her, pulling her head down and pressing his lips harder on hers until she was out of breath.

"Good morning, Usako," Mamoru said with a smile on his face, touching his forehead to hers gently.

"Good morning, Mamo-chan," Usagi replied, blushing even more than before.

"Mamo-chan?" he asked while he sat up and let the sheets slide around his waist. He chuckled at ran his fingers through one of her long pony tails, feeling the silky strands in his hand. "I could get used to that."

Usagi looked a little embarrassed, but pleased with herself, and she stood, her hair sliding through Mamoru's fingers. "It's after eight," she said, playing with the cuffs of her shirt. "I think I should go home. My parents are going to be furious with me for doing this. The sooner I get my grounding until I'm sixty over with the better. I just wanted to say goodbye to you, I didn't want to leave a note or anything silly like that."

Mamoru swung his legs over the side of the bed and put his feet on the carpet, relishing in the feeling of even having carpet again. He wrapped his arms around Usagi's waist, burying his face in her stomach and inhaling her scent. "I'll go too," he said in a muffled voice. He looked up at her and his face was set, there would be no arguing with him. "This is my fault, and I owe your family an apology."

"Mamo-chan…papa is going to be so mad I was here," she reminded him. "You should let it sit for a little while, just until after we defeat Beryl and we come back with some heroic tales of what you've done to help us."

A shake of his head and Mamoru put his foot down. He would be escorting Usagi home, driving her home actually as it was freezing outside, and he was prepared to take whatever the Tsukino's could dish out. It was his punishment for his actions, which he very much considered his responsibility. He was just glad that he had still managed to cling to some of his better qualities and wasn't a completely vile person while he was under the control of the Dark Kingdom. He had so many chances to kill Usagi and take the ginzuishou, and he had never taken one of them.

Usagi changed back into her clothes in the bathroom and Mamoru dressed hurriedly in his room, putting some of his clothes on and noting the slightly musty smell they had to them. They skipped breakfast, much to Usagi's utter dismay, and clamored into the little red sports car, which caused Usagi to squeal in delight. Mamoru promised that when the snow melted he would take her out for a real drive and show her what the car could do. In no time, they arrived at the Tsukino household and they waited outside the gate, both of them breathing faster as they put off the inevitable.

"So," Mamoru said, a note of fear in his voice, "shall we?"

They laced their fingers together and walked towards the door. Usagi fished out her key and found that the door was already opened. She froze as the door creaked and the hairs at the back of her neck stood on end. She exchanged a glance with Mamoru who had already pulled out once of his lethal red roses and nodded at her, saying that she needed to go in, he was right there.

Usagi pushed the door open and gasped at the sight in front of her. It looked like a battle had taken place in the entryway, all of the pictures that normally lined the walls were smashed, many were on the floor, shoes and slippers were strewn everywhere , and there was a bloody hand print smeared on the wall heading towards the door. Usagi abandoned all caution and ran into her house, not bothering to take her shoes off.

"Mama! Papa! Shingo! Luna!" she screamed, running into the kitchen and living rooms and finding them in similar disarray, but finding no person there. She ran upstairs, still calling their names, Mamoru following her, calling hers. She checked every bedroom, every closet and just as she was about to give up hope she heard a faint voice call out.

"Usagi-chan…"

Usagi jumped. She was in the hallway and the voice had come from her room. She dashed into the room and stepped lightly over the tossed furniture, careful to not trip over anything. "Luna!" she called, recognizing the voice immediately. "Luna, where are you?"

Mamoru was in the room looking, too, and he saw a patch of black fur underneath the collapsed desk and kneeled down. "Usako, over here!" He pulled the desk up and gently removed the debris from around Luna, who was in bad shape. She was bloody and bruised all over her body, and was having some trouble breathing. Usagi looked in horror as Mamoru gently picked Luna up and started to check her for her worst injuries.

"Luna," Usagi said softly, tears in her eyes. "What happened? Where's everyone?"

Luna looked at her princess, ashamed that she had been powerless to do anything, not even able to make it to the communicator to call for back up. "A pack of youma descended upon the house in the early morning. We were completely over whelmed. I wasn't able to get to my communicator to call for help and they took your family and told me to give you and Mamoru-san a message."

Mamoru's face became troubled and he avoided Luna's gaze. "They know."

"It would appear so," Luna agreed, taking a deep breath in and coughing.

"What was the message?" Usagi asked softly, almost certain that she knew the gist of it.

Luna reached her good paw out and touched Usagi's arm in solidarity. She had failed as a guardian to her princess, and she had allowed the enemy to get too close. "That if you want them you must come to the Dark Kingdom and get them. Queen Beryl expects you in no less than twenty four hours." She paused, hesitant on if she should give Mamoru his message or not, but decided that he was strong enough to know what they were facing. "And to Mamoru-san specifically, or Endymion, they said traitors are not tolerated and you should expect a slow death." She paused again and retracted her paw. "I'm sorry, that's all they said to me."

Trembling, Usagi reached for her communicator. She had to call for help. This was not a mission she could undertake on her own.

XxXxXxXx

In less than fifteen minutes everyone was at the shrine, ready to go to D Point and put an end to the war they had fought and suffered for so many months.

Sailor Moon was holding herself together pretty well, but it was easy to see that underneath her calm exterior she was boiling in anger and freezing with worry. She had promised them that this wouldn't happen, that she would protect them at all costs and now they were in the heart of the enemy's base, possibly being torture or even killed. But she couldn't let that get her down now, she had to put it aside and concentrate on the object which was to defeat Queen Beryl and Queen Metalia so they could rescue her family. They would never be safe if they didn't do this now.

Taking one last look at the shrine, and all the memories that had been made here, she took a deep breath and let it out. This might be the last time she saw this place. She would have to make it worth it.

"Usako," Tuxedo Kamen said as he approached her, touching her shoulder, "the others are ready to go. Mercury thinks she has the exact location based on my information and the energy signature that was emitting from the North Pole. I guess they're either getting sloppy, or want us to find them."

Sailor Moon made a fist and looked at the ground. "They just want us to find them. Well," she turned and met his deep blue eyes, "let's go find them!"

Tuxedo Kamen leaned down and kissed her, tried to reassure her. He was interrupted by the sound of someone hooting and hollering at the two of them. Venus. "She is so competent sometimes, why not now?" he ground out between his teeth.

"Well, only sometimes," Artemis said as he approached the two royalty. "Don't let her fool you."

"Artemis, how's Luna?" Sailor Moon asked, worry evident in her voice. She played nervously with a pony tail and waited for the answer. They had rushed Luna to the shrine and done their best with setting her broken bones and wrapped and cleaned her wounds, they weren't sure about taking her to a vet, and she seemed to be doing alright at last check.

"She'll live," Artemis grunted none too happily about the state of his partner. "Mercury did a good job on her. She's just resting. All you can do for her now is win this, Sailor Moon. Are you ready?"

They walked over to where the others had gathered in a circle and at Artemis' command they joined hands with Tuxedo Kamen in the middle. They concentrated their energy and their destination, letting it swirl around them before calling upon their powers.

"Mercury Power!"

"Mars Power!"

"Jupiter Power!"

"Venus Power!"

"Moon Prims Power!"

"Sailor Teleport!" they all cried together, vanishing from the shrine, taking Tuxedo Kamen with them and leaving nothing in their wake.

Artemis waited another minute, feeling his anxiety grow with each passing moment, but he pushed it back because he had to be strong for Luna, who needed him now more than ever. With luck, she would be asleep from the medicine that Ami had given her, but he couldn't count on that forever. Head up, tail straight, he walked back into Rei's room and went to worry with his partner and pray for their charges safe return.

XxXxXxXx

When they arrived it was freezing, more cold and white than anything they had ever experienced and the only one who was even remotely properly dressed for it was Tuxedo Kamen. In their short skirts and body suits, while entirely fashionable and easy to move in, the girls were freezing. Mars was the first to bring up the obvious flaw with their costumes, and that a man must have made them.

Where that comment would have been met with some half-hearted 'yeahs' normally, today everyone nodded their vehement agreement and they lost nearly five minutes to Mars and Jupiter railing on the stupidity of their short skirts. Venus finally had to reign them in with the promise of visiting the changing of their uniforms when this was all said and done, though it was a lie.

During the entire exchange, Tuxedo Kamen was quiet and Sailor Moon was glancing out into the distance, trying to imagine that her family was out here, somewhere, in this cold. She could only hope they were warm and as safe as they could be. Mercury was quietly, and hastily, typing at her computer to find the direction they needed to move in this snow storm. She ignored the tirade that Mars and Jupiter were on completely and by the time they were done she had the correct coordinates.

"You guys, it's that way," she said, pointing to the east. "It's about a half mile, it won't take too long for us to get there, even in this storm. But we should move before hypothermia or frost bite sets in."

Sailor Moon blinked at the strange word. "Hypowha?"

"Hypothermia," Tuxedo Kamen explained to her. "It's when your body freezes, which is quite a possibility in these conditions. And frost bite could cause you to lose body parts."

"Body parts?" Venus shrieked. "What are we waiting for? Let's move, let's move!"

Mercury sighed and touched the side of her face. "All of the power of the Dark Kingdom coming at us, and she's concerned about losing her toes."

Jupiter shrugged, and then grinned ruefully. "She's Venus."

XxXxXxXx

Sitting upon her black throne Queen Beryl felt them before she saw them. The Sailor Senshi, and Endymion. Endymion who had once again been ripped from her by that accursed princess. Lied to and poisoned, filled with hatred against his own people all because of her. The witch of the moon. Queen Beryl gripped her staff tightly, her knuckles protesting against the great strength she was using, but she paid no heed.

In her crystal ball she could see them, all six of them, starting towards the Dark Kingdom and she focused on Tuxedo Kamen, who was helping Sailor Moon through the snow. She had been betrayed by the one man she thought she could fully trust. She would make him pay as much as the other. She had seen them lying together, she understood that things were just like they were back in the past and she was cast aside again, an unknown figure, an unknown woman, unwanted.

But this time she had the power of Metalia behind her, and Metalia was ready. Setting the trap with Serenity's family was only the beginning because it would draw them out, now they were ensnared. They would never escape from the hell she had planned for them.

And first she would send a welcoming party, her strongest warriors, the ones responsible for bringing Serenity's family to her. And hopefully rendering that annoying cat of hers with only a few last breaths to deliver her message. The DD Girls. Perfect. They were vicious, cruel, and unafraid of what lay before them. They had been wanting to get into the war for months but Beryl had always held them back as a trump card for this day.

And so she watched as the DD Girls made their appearance before the Sailor Senshi and Tuxedo Kamen, a cruel but satisfied smile playing on her lips. They would pay. All of them would pay.

To Be Concluded…

Well, if you celebrate Christmas or Kwanza or Solstice, I hope your holiday is a good one. Or any other holiday that happens during this time of year, I have enough trouble keeping track of the major ones. As always, thank you for reading and reviewing

-Ginzuishou


	9. Avenged

And it's here. The final chapter. It feels a little rushed in some places, but I don't do battles all that well, and thus we're here. Everything is wrapped up in a nice pretty little package. Thank you to everyone to who has reviewed, especially to those who have been with me from the beginning and urged me to make this more than the original one shot it was.

**A Little Late**

**Chapter 9/9**

The Sailor Senshi weren't ready when the attack came. All the warning that they had was the sudden beeping of Mercury's goggles, which alerted them in time to dodge the first attack, a group of vines shooting from the arms of the DD Girls.

"We're surrounded!" Mercury alerted them as she scanned the area, noting the five dots on the horizon. "There's five of them!"

Jupiter cracked her knuckles and looked off in the distance, waiting for the next attack. "I like the odds," she said candidly.

"Those are the DD Girls," Tuxedo Kamen told the Senshi with a grim note in his voice, glancing around, his cane held at the ready.

"Who are they?" Sailor Moon asked him, scanning the horizon, feeling her heart palpitating in her chest.

Tuxedo Kamen kept looking for their enemy, his eyes darting about furiously. "The strongest youma in the Dark Kingdom. Beryl's been saving them for you."

Venus swore and then pointed at the sky as the five DD Girls descended. "Look out!" she yelled.

Everyone dove out of the way as a DD Girl aimed for them, except for Sailor Moon, who was left alone. They ducked and rolled out of the way as ice came flying at them from where the DD Girls had dove through the ground. Tuxedo Kamen looked around blindly for Sailor Moon, who was covering her head from the rain of ice shards, and threw his cape over her to protect her. Despite the situation, she managed a grateful smile his way before stepping into her role as leader and shouting out orders to her friends.

"Everyone, let's get away from here, we don't want to be near them when they come out of the ice!" Sailor Moon called. All of them ran off, too slowly as the vines suddenly came out of the ground and snapped around Mars's ankle, throwing her off balance and slowly dragging her down the ice.

"Mars!" Jupiter yelled as she watched Mars turn over and ready her attack.

"Fire Soul!"

An unearthly scream came from the DD Girl who was holding Mars as the fire made its way down her vined arm into her body, causing the youma to go limp, killing it. Mars reached down and swiftly undid the vine from around her ankle, panting and sweating from the exertion.

Sailor Moon ran forward and kneeled down in the snow and ice, she threw her arms around Mars and held her close. "Mars, are you alright?" she demanded.

Wincing while she stood up, Mars tested the weight on her ankle. "My ankle hurts from the fire, but I'm otherwise okay," she told her princess, who looked relieved with those words. "Those vines are strong, they've got a lot of power in them, I could feel it. No messing around with these guys." She shared a look of understanding with Tuxedo Kamen and limped with her friends as they continued on down towards the opening of the Dark Kingdom.

They had barely walked another few minutes, still keeping their eyes open for the other four, when the ice field became misty and no one could see two feet in front of them. Mercury was still typing away at her computer and confirmed for them that this fog was being made by mystical means and that they should be weary. Mars tried concentrating on what was before them to see if she could sense the presence of the other four DD Girls, but found that she could feel nothing.

"It's like they aren't even there," she told her friends, worry evident in her voice.

Sailor Moon continued to walk forward, letting Mercury lead the way, and stopped when she noticed something in the distance beginning to take shape. She squinted against the sun and then gasped, her hand going to her mouth when she realized what it was. Sitting in the snow, their clothes ripped and their faces bloodied, were her parents and Shingo.

They appeared to be unconscious, but then her mother opened her eyes and reached out for her. "Usagi…help us."

"Mama!" Sailor Moon yelled as blind panic set in. She ran forward for her family, praying she was still in time to save them.

"Sailor Moon, no!" Tuxedo Kamen ran after her and wrapped an arm around her waist, physically lifting her up off the ground as he pulled her back. "You can't," he told her forcefully as he kept her as far away from her family as he could.

"Tuxedo Kamen, we have to help them!" Venus insisted as she began to make her way towards the Tsukino's.

Tuxedo Kamen, still holding firmly to Sailor Moon, shook his head. "The DD Girls are masters of illusion. That isn't the Tsukino's, that's just one of their tricks." Sailor Moon stopped struggling and looked up to him, her face streaked with tears. "I'm sorry, Usako."

Sailor Moon let out a shuddering breath and seemed to calm down with the knowledge this wasn't her family, that they hadn't been tortured and weren't looking as raggedy and beaten as the illusion before her did. She just hoped that her real family was in much better shape, though she feared the worst.

"Uh-oh," Jupiter said, shifting her footing.

"Uh-oh is bad, " Venus replied before she noticed what Jupiter did and she also shifted her footing, preparing to attack. "Uh-oh!"

Coming out of the center of the illusion was two of the DD Girls at full speed, heading straight for the Senshi and Tuxedo Kamen.

"Crescent Beam!"

"Fire Soul!"

The two attacks missed and everyone scrambled to get out of the way of the next one, the vines just barely missing Mercury by inches. The two of them wrapped their vine-like arms around Venus, who prepared her attack again, ready to administer it at point blank range, a move that would surely kill her.

Mercury got to her feet and typed on her computer, noting that the two of them that were coming at them were not the ones who could cause the illusions. She knew she couldn't do much to help the team, her attack was a defensive attack after all, but she theorized on many occasions how she could change that. Before spreading her attack, the shabon spray was condensed into a bubble of ice, if she could use that to her advantage she could take one of them out.

"Shabon Spray!"

She concentrated on not spreading the attack, keeping it as much of an ice block as she could, and was rewarded when she saw one of the DD Girls freeze in place and shatter into a million tiny pieces. The second DD Girl, shocked, let go of Venus, who slumped to the ground and rolled onto her torso, her attack now ready.

"Crescent Beam!"

The beam of light when straight through the head of the second DD Girl and her head snapped back, a look of surprise on her face from the sudden attack. She fell to the ground in a heap, and after a few seconds Venus allowed herself to breathe a sigh of relief and allow Jupiter to help her up.

"Everyone still standing?" Venus asked, her voice steady and authoritative despite her close shave. Everyone checked in, including Sailor Moon, who was looking pale from Venus' close encounter.

"We can't let our guards down," Tuxedo Kamen reminded the girls. "There's still two more out there."

"And we still need to be weary of the illusions, they can still send them to us if they want to," Mercury warned them.

Mars frowned as they continued along their journey. "I doubt they'll try that again. We didn't believe them the first time, what makes them think that…we'll…" she trailed off as through the mist a vision appeared to her. Her grandfather tied up and slumped forward in the snow, unconscious. "Jii-chan," Mars whispered.

"Mars, it's not –" Mercury began, noticing the readings in her goggles.

"Think you can get me with your cheap tricks!" Mars yelled at the illusion. "I'm not falling for it! My grandfather is at home, safe, probably hitting on some girl in a skirt!"

"Fire Soul!"

The fire went right through the illusion, breaking it up, and the last two of the DD Girls came bursting onto the scene. Everyone was ready for them and attacks began flying left and right, trying to stop or slow down the flying youma before them.

Tuxedo Kamen felt helpless, so far he had done nothing to help beyond inform them of the danger they were in, and the Senshi had handled themselves admirably. He could do nothing besides stay out of their way as they attacked. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Sailor Moon throwing her tiara, hoping to hit the youma, and he saw their plan just seconds before they reached her.

Running forward as the DD Girls lunged down on Sailor Moon, he got between the three of them and ran the remaining DD Girls through with his cane. He dropped the cane, which they futilely tried to pull out and shouted for Jupiter, who smirked as Tuxedo Kamen pulled Sailor Moon back from the scene.

"Supreme Thunder!"

The cane acted as a lightning rod and the last two of the DD Girls fell to the ground in a charred mass. Tuxedo Kamen gingerly stepped forward to retrieve his cane from their bodies, wincing slightly as he did so.

"I don't envy doing that, Tuxedo Kamen," Jupiter said while she also winced.

"Do you think she'll send more?" Sailor Moon asked as they began to move out again.

Tuxedo Kamen shook his head. "No point, that's the entrance," he said as he pointed to a black cave that presented itself in front of them.

They positioned themselves at the mouth of the cave and hesitated, studying the opening. Venus finally turned to Tuxedo Kamen and chirped at him, "Age before beauty?"

The Senshi snickered and Tuxedo Kamen rolled his eyes, beckoning them to follow. He did, after all, know his way around the Dark Kingdom so it was only natural that he be the one to lead them through the dark, twisting tunnels. Sailor Moon slipped next to him and took his hand, squeezing his it in reassurance. They took a step in and walked into the darkness that was the Dark Kingdom.

XxXxXxXx

Queen Beryl watched the Senshi and Tuxedo Kamen enter the Dark Kingdom and it was all she could do to hold herself back. Not one, not a single one had fallen to the DD Girls. There had been several close calls, but all that had done was show how strong they had become over the months since they had become Senshi. Furious, Queen Beryl had gripped her crystal ball so tightly that cracks appeared along the surface of it.

If the DD Girls hadn't been able to stop them, then none of the youma would stand a chance. It was possible they could overcome them with sheer numbers, but Beryl knew that all of her stronger youma were gone, they would plow through the weaker ones as though they were wading through shallow water. It would only serve to slow them down and would not deter them in the least.

She frowned and gripped the staff in her hand tightly, her knuckles turning white. They'd be heading here, to the throne room, but Metalia was still not ready. But it would have to do, because their enemy was at the door.

Beryl turned to her nearest minion and snapped at it. "You, bring the family down here, immediately. I want Serenity to see them before she dies."

She stood and went down to the vast chamber where Queen Metalia, the great black expanse that she served, waited. While nothing more than energy, Metalia had a consciousness of her own and was a power that not even Beryl could fathom. Beryl kneeled before Metalia and waited to be addressed.

"You have failed, Beryl," the dark voice purred.

Beryl shivered, but did not deny this. "We must prepare for the Sailor Senshi to come here, even our strongest youma have failed."

"No," Metalia responded, "you have failed, Beryl. You have this last chance to destroy the princess of the white moon and bring me the ginzuishou. The Dark Kingdom will fall because of your ignorance if you cannot accomplish this simple task!" she roared, causing the cavern to quake.

Beryl did not move and merely bowed her head lower, fear in her stomach as she realized that this was going to be her last chance to prove herself to Metalia.

XxXxXxXx

Tuxedo Kamen knew the tunnels by heart, he doubted he would ever forget them, and other than the occasional youma that they destroyed their way was clear. He led them through the twist and turns, hardly pausing until the tunnels began to get wider and the air was starting to get thick with dark energy. He paused and let out a shuddering breath as he realized just how close they were.

"We're almost there, aren't we?" Jupiter asked.

Tuxedo Kamen nodded and pointed down the tunnel. "One more stretch of tunnels and then we're there. The throne room."

Sailor Moon touched his arm and he looked down at her. "You can go back, you don't have to face her if you don't want to."

"Yes, I do."

"Well we aren't going to get there by standing around," Mars said as she massaged her ankle. "Let's go!" She took off down the tunnel, the others following close behind her.

It wasn't long before they came to a wide opening and they slowly came to a halt at the vastness that was Queen Beryl's throne room. It had been emptied of all the normal youma who swarmed the court and a dark aura hung in the air so thick that it almost seemed to blind them as they entered. Tuxedo Kamen looked around and frowned, puzzled by how quiet the throne room was without the youma.

"This is wrong," Tuxedo Kamen whispered.

Venus looked around, her body tense. "What is it?"

"There's normally youma crawling all over this place," his voice was a whisper. "We didn't run into that many."

"So it's a trap," Mercury said just as quietly as they made their way slowly forward.

It was silent in the throne room and with every step forward their breaths came a little faster and their nerves were set more on edge. Before them was the strange dark energy that they had always come to associate with the Dark Kingdom, but below their feet was something else entirely. They were about half way in when they heard a strange sound, the sound of someone struggling and Sailor Moon suddenly stopped and gasped.

"That's Shingo!" she whispered, suddenly picking up speed and running further into the room.

"Sailor Moon!" Tuxedo Kamen called out after her as they tried to keep up with her. Her morning sprints, however, had paid off in the long run and Sailor Moon out stripped them all and soon came upon what she had heard with a stifled scream.

Shingo lay, hands bound behind his back, with a large gash above his eye. He was struggling against his bonds, which were chaffing his wrists, and tensed when he heard the voice call out. He looked up just in time to see his sister come out of the fog, like an angel descending into hell, and his face lit up.

"Usagi!"

Sailor Moon knelt down next to him, panic and worry on her face, and she wiped the blood away from his eye and then quickly snapped the ropes around his wrists. "Oh, Shingo. Are you okay?" she asked.

Her brother grinned at her, feeling some of his fear melt away now that she was there. "It doesn't hurt."

Tearing up, she threw her arms around him and held him tightly, sniffling as she tried to hold back her emotions. He tensed up and gasped. "Usagi, behind you!"

Sailor Moon turned around, ready to fight, but she quickly relaxed when she saw that it was only Tuxedo Kamen and the Senshi. Then it clicked. She faced Shingo again and smiled at him. "It's okay, Shingo, he's on our side. He's better."

Shingo, however, did not relax. Unlike the Senshi, he hadn't known Mamoru or Tuxedo Kamen, he didn't understand the forces that were at work like they did. He glared at Tuxedo Kamen and asked his sister, "Are you sure?"

Tuxedo Kamen offered his hand to Sailor Moon, who gratefully took it, while Venus helped Shingo stand. Sailor Moon smiled at Shingo, radiating confidence. "I'm positive. I broke the magic last night."

Jupiter crossed her arms and put her hand on the kid's shoulder. "True love conquers all, Shingo."

"Do you know where mama and papa are?" Sailor Moon asked, not willing to even try to explain that to her now puzzled brother.

Shingo shook his head and they kept walking, now nearer to the throne than they had been and feeling colder than ever. "I haven't seen them since we were brought here. They separated me from them, I don't know if they're still together. And papa…papa was hurt pretty badly. One of those things, they called themselves the DD something or other, that attacked us cut him across the back and he wouldn't stop bleeding." He swallowed. "Do you think he's alright?"

Mercury looked forward, her eyes resolute, and she set her mouth in a firm line. "I'm certain he's fine. This may sound cruel, but if they had wanted him dead, they wouldn't have bothered to take you as hostages in the first place."

"And don't worry about the DD Girls," Tuxedo Kamen told him. "We took care of them."

Shingo rubbed at the dried blood around his wrists, set his face in a stern look and kept walking forward. "Good."

"Hold on everyone," Mercury said in a hushed tone. "There's something up ahead."

The group stopped and Mercury pushed a few buttons before she smiled at Sailor Moon. "It's human, there's two of them." Sailor Moon and Shingo exchanged enthusiastic looks. Tuxedo Kamen took Sailor Moon's hand and squeezed it, hoping to give her strength. "Wait, there's something else with them, something that isn't a youma, but it's not quite human, either." She tapped a few more buttons but no new information came up. "I think it's…"

"That's probably Beryl," Tuxedo Kamen said. "Not quite human, not a youma, but something else entirely. And below that, below this throne room, is Metalia."

"Metalia?" Shingo asked, more familiar with Beryl's story and terror. They hadn't deliberately left Metalia out of the story when telling the Tsukino's about the past, but they hadn't emphasized her importance, either.

Sailor Moon sucked in a breath and began to lead the way through the last bit of fog. "The real threat," she explained succinctly.

"Yes," a new, unfamiliar, voice curled through the darkness. "The real threat." Queen Beryl chuckled as the Sailor Senshi walked into the little bit of light that was around her black throne and saw her for the first time. She stood tall, her staff held in one hand, a physical embodiment of everything the Senshi had come to know was evil. The very heart of the jealousy which had rooted Metalia on Earth.

"But you have to get through me to get to her. Can you manage that, Serenity?"

It was then that they noticed that off to the side of Beryl's throne were two figures. Ikuko was kneeling on the ground, her pajama pants soaked with blood, Kenji's blood. Kenji's head was in her lap and she was stroking his hair as Ikuko stared ahead at her daughter, wondering what she would do, how she would react.

"Usagi," Ikuko whispered.

Sailor Moon turned her head to Queen Beryl and regarded her coolly. "How did you know?"

Beryl looked smug and stepped down from her throne, almost gracefully. "Endymion was acting strange these last few weeks, after he killed Kunzite – "

"_I _killed Kunzite," Sailor Moon told her severely. "I guess Tuxedo Kamen edited what happened."

"To make sure she didn't know you were there," Tuxedo Kamen agreed, almost still pleased with himself when he watched Beryl visibly lose part of her composure over being lied to.

"After Kunzite's demise," Beryl corrected herself, "I had Endymion followed. I was pleased to see he knew your identities, I thought it was a hand he had yet to play." She paused in her walking and her face turned sour. "Then I saw what you did to him, even as enemies." Power gathered in her hand and her eyes flashed. "I saw you lying in his arms!"

Sailor Moon pulled out her Moon Stick and the Senshi began to power up their attacks.

"No matter what I do, no matter how many times we reincarnate, I cannot get what I want, then you shall not get Endymion either!"

"Moon Healing Escalation!"

The rays of the ginzuishou held out against the energy that Beryl sent their way and as Sailor Moon stood her ground, she looked to Tuxedo Kamen, who understood without words what she was asking. He went around her, out of the protective light of the ginzuishou, and ran to where Ikuko and Kenji were sitting, perilously close to Beryl, who took her eyes off the battle for a moment to watch what he was doing.

"Endymion, no!" she barked, which allowed Venus to use her Crescent Beam, scratching Beryl's face.

"Can you move?" Tuxedo Kamen asked Ikuko, breathing heavily.

Ikuko stared wide-eyed at him for a moment, studying him, and despite the situation she smiled. "You're back."

"Thanks to Usagi. Now, can you stand? We have to run. Sailor Moon needs to unleash more power to destroy Beryl."

"I can, but Kenji…" She looked down at her husband's still unconscious form and trembled.

"No problem," Tuxedo Kamen said. Kenji groaned and Tuxedo Kamen leaned down and picked him up. "I'm sorry, Tsukino-san, this is going to hurt your back," he muttered. "Come on, let's run!"

Ikuko followed him and he could hear Beryl roar furiously behind him as he reentered the protective bubble that Sailor Moon had created using the ginzuishou. He set Kenji down as far back as he could and Ikuko stood with him, ready to follow any instructions that were yelled to her by the Senshi. Shingo was ordered by Jupiter to go to them, stay out of the way, because things were only going to get worse.

Out of the corner of her eye, Sailor Moon saw that her family was now safe and she turned her eyes back to the fight. Beryl was only another obstacle. She had to save her strength for Metalia. She focused harder, giving more of her strength to the ginzuishou. She forced Beryl's energy back once more, and broke it, causing Beryl to stumble back to the ground.

"Now!" Mars yelled.

"Crescent Beam!"

"Supreme Thunder!"

"Fire Soul!"

"Shabon Spray!"

The four powers combined, and before Beryl could recover from the hit she took from the ginzuishou they slammed into her center, striking her very core. Beryl gasped and held her stomach, or where her stomach had been, and sunk to the floor crying out in pain.

"Sailor Moon, one more time!" Venus called to her.

Knowing it would not be the last time for the day, Sailor Moon lifted the ginzuishou high above her head and let the power wash over her. Her sailor fuku unfurled and Sailor Moon stood there no longer; Princess Serenity was now there to finish what her mother had tasked her with countless years ago.

"Moon Healing Escalation!"

The crescent moon on Serenity's forehead shone in the darkness and Beryl screamed one last silent scream, her body crumbling to dust.

"Usagi…Usagi is that you?" Ikuko asked, staring at the girl who had taken Sailor Moon's place.

Serenity lowered the Moon Stick, breathing hard, and faced her mother. She smiled at her, trying to reassure her as Ikuko had never seen her like this before, but the look faded from her face as the cavern began to rumble and the Senshi were immediately back on their guard.

"That's…" Mercury trailed off.

"Metalia," Jupiter finished.

"It's not over yet," Serenity whispered, wishing desperately it was. "Mama, Shingo, stay back and watch papa. Whatever you do, don't let her touch you."

"Who?" Ikuko wondered.

In a whirl of dark energy and wind, a great blackness came up from under the floor. Pure black, with slits for eyes and a great gaping mouth. Metalia was mammoth, nearly filling the entire front of the room with its enormity. For a moment she just seemed content to rest there, taking up space and being a dark, evil presence that oozed miasma.

And then she spoke.

"So the princess of the white moon thinks she can do what her powerful mother could not," Queen Metalia hissed. "You cannot destroy me. No one can destroy me."

"Her," Serenity reaffirmed, taking a step closer to Metalia, leveling her Moon Stick at it. "My mother wasn't given a choice. She could either destroy us all, or let us all live. I have a different choice because none of us are dead. So now, for the Silver Millennium, in the name of the moon, I'll punish you!"

"Moon Healing Escalation!"

Metalia responded by waving what appeared to be a clawed looking hand in front of the ginzuishou's energy, effectively stopping it from reaching it. But Serenity did not stop, she poured her life force into what she was doing, never stopping, never breaking her concentration, as she did everything she could to save her planet from what was left of the Dark Kingdom. The white light of the ginzuishou pulsed, and Metalia hissed as it touched it, unable to keep the purity at bay.

"You tried to take my planet, my friends, and my family!" Serenity yelled, the ginzuishou responding to her emotions. "You can't have any of them, you wouldn't understand the true meaning or importance of love and friendship!"

"Is this all you have?" Metalia demanded. "Is this your power? The power of love? Friendship? Is this all there is?"

"That's all I need to defeat you!"

Metalia laughed. "You could have all the love in the world, and it would not hold the smallest flame to my power. You will merely repeat your sad history, and this planet will fall to me."

"No! We were sent here to stop you, to prevent you from taking form and rooting yourself into the Earth," Serenity replied with true resolve in her voice. "Okaa-sama gave me this chance, and nothing will stop me!"

"Your mother was a fool. Entrusting your future to a child."

Serenity's eyes went cold. "No one insults my mother!"

Their wills were matched, their powers were equaled, and neither side gave the other an inch. The dark met the light and Serenity had sweat beading down her forehead.

The Senshi watched as Serenity did everything to just hold Metalia back. Kenji had awakened and through half-closed lids was able to see his daughter standing before him, protecting them from the darkness that threatened them. She was a pillar of light in the muck that surrounded them, and she was glorious to gaze upon. But it was easy to see that it was taxing her, and that without some final push she wouldn't win this.

"She won't last much longer!" Mercury called over the roar of the clashing energies.

Mars was kneeling on the ground and looked between Serenity and Metalia. "There must be something we can do!"

Jupiter cursed and tried shooting Metalia with her attack, only to have it be absorbed into her body, as it had so many years before. "We aren't going to be much help."

"Everyone, give her your power!" Venus ordered, an idea coming to her. "Give her everything!"

Exchanging glances with each other, the Senshi stepped forward and flanked Serenity, placing a hand on the Moon Stick each and calling forth their powers and adding them to hers. Tuxedo Kamen followed, unsure how he could help, but he slipped one arm around Serenity's waist and another up on her arm, supporting her from behind.

"Mercury Power!"

"Mars Power!"

"Jupiter Power!"

"Venus Power!"

Serenity felt their power flow into her and she inhaled sharply, letting it fill her every pore.

"Moon Prism Power!"

With a final push, the energy of the ginzuishou pulsed again and drew the energy from Serenity, growing stronger until it grew beyond Metalia and engulfed it. With a scream, it took over the dark energy that was Metalia, causing its body to fall to pieces and disappear from existence.

Silence filled the vast cavern and Serenity breathed hard, not ready to relax quite yet.

"Is it…gone?" Mercury whispered, lowering her hand and looking around in the dark. "Did we do it?"

Jupiter was grinning, sweat running down the side of her face and she let out a great laugh when nothing moved in the shadows. "We did it!"

Venus jumped up and pumped her fist in the air. "It's gone!" She turned to Mars and grabbed her hands, jumping with her. "It's gone!"

"Ankle, ankle, ankle!" Mars ground out between her teeth, pulling away and rubbing her burned ankle with a scowl.

"Usako?" Tuxedo Kamen whispered, still holding onto her.

Serenity turned and looked up to Tuxedo Kamen, tears in her eyes, the past avenged. "I just can't believe it's over."

Their celebrations were cut short. A sudden rumbling sound came from around them and a chunk of the ceiling overhead fell right next to the Tsukino's, causing them to cry out. The floor beneath them became unstable and it crumbled right under Serenity's feet, but she was pulled out of the way by Tuxedo Kamen, who turned to the Senshi.

"Run!" he yelled. "The whole place is coming down!"

Without the power of Metalia to hold the Dark Kingdom together, it was crumbling around them. They crowded around the frightened Tsukino's, drained and spent of their powers, unsure if they would be able to make it, but knowing they didn't have the time to plan for another contingency. Tuxedo Kamen stepped into the center with the Tsukino's, and the Senshi surrounded them. They ignored the hunks of rock falling on them, concentrating instead on what they had to do, that they had to get out to save themselves.

"Everyone, give everything you have, we're carrying four people, and we've given most of our energy to this fight," Mercury instructed them, wincing when a piece of the ceiling hit her shoulder. "There's a high statistical probability that we won't be able to do this."

"Way to boost morale, Mercury!" Jupiter yelled, taking hers and Mars' hands.

"All we can do is pray!" Venus input, standing her ground.

"No, we can do this," Mars insisted.

Tuxedo Kamen and Serenity exchanged glances, and Serenity closed the circle. "Everyone, let's get home!"

"Mercury Power!"

"Mars Power!"

"Jupiter Power!"

"Venus Power!"

"Moon Prism Power!"

As the floor gave way, the Senshi, Tuxedo Kamen, and the Tsukino's vanished from the remains of the Dark Kingdom. It collapsed on itself, bringing a rain of rock and snow into all of the tunnels, taking any of the remaining youma that had hidden in the cavernous tunnels with it.

XxXxXxXx

So much time had passed that it was nearly nightfall when they reappeared at the Hikawa Shrine. As soon as the Senshi realized they were safe, they were at the shrine, they slumped to the ground, completely exhausted of their powers, detransforming to their civilian forms. Ikuko laid Kenji on the ground, making sure to not open his wound again, and leaned over and touched Usagi on the arm. Usagi jumped, but then smiled at her mother, and gave her the thumbs up through her tired eyes.

Minako looked to the darkening sky and laughed out loud. "We won!" she cried out.

The others groaned in agreement, not feeling like they had the energy to celebrate just yet.

"Mina!"

"Usagi-chan!"

Limping along, with Artemis helping her, was Luna. She was moving, her eyes shining with unshed tears, as she realized what it meant that they were back. She hobbled along as fast as she could and came up to Usagi, who picked her up and hugged her as tightly as possible. "Luna, you're alright."

"Of course I am, Usagi-chan," Luna purred as Artemis reunited with Minako. "Oh, Usagi-chan, you did it. You did it!"

Usagi looked sadly at her father, who was still barely conscious, and at Shingo's slightly puffy face from the laceration on his face and she winced. "Not without some repercussions. We need to get papa to the hospital."

Rei stood up and winced on her ankle, wishing she had the energy to heal it. "I'll go call an ambulance," she volunteered. "You'd better think of a cover story for how this happened."

XxXxXxXx

Kenji was out of work for quite some time while his back healed, no one questioned the gang attack that had driven them from their home to the Hikawa Shrine. The Senshi even took several days off of school to rest and relax from their final battle with the Dark Kingdom. Of course, Ami only took one day off as she couldn't let herself get that behind in her studies, much to the others chagrin. Luna was healing wonderfully, though she limped along on her broken leg around the house and had to be carried up and down the stairs. No one minded.

Mamoru took back to civilian life easily, and with renewed vigor. He'd had to forfeit this semester of college, but with Ami's computer skills they had managed to fake medical records to indicate that Mamoru had been in a coma, so it didn't count against him. Even Motoki had bought the cover story, though he'd then doted on Mamoru a little bit as he had been extremely worried about him.

It was going to take some time before the Tsukino's fully trusted Mamoru, and he couldn't blame them after what he had put them through. He had threatened their lives, whether he would have gone through with it or not was neither here nor there. Kenji wanted to outright forbid any contact between Usagi and Mamoru, but Luna had laughed at him and pointed out that whether he liked it or not, they had a greater destiny than what Kenji could fathom. They would find a way. Shingo didn't like it, but didn't protest when Mamoru came for Usagi in the mornings before school, he was slowly getting used to it, and the guy had a motorcycle. He was looking forward to being able to ride that sometime.

Ikuko was the easiest. She had been the most understanding during the whole debacle, and she continued to be. Mamoru was allowed around anytime, as long as she was home (they overlooked that one night Usagi spent at his apartment), but the entire episode had changed her. She had seen her daughter, that is to say the person her daughter truly was, and the amount of power she could wield, and it was almost frightening.

But time passed, as it does, and things were back to normal. In Ichi-no-Hashi park, Mamoru and Usagi were getting ready to walk home. It was warmer than it had been, winter was well on its way to ending and spring was around the corner. With spring would come a new school year, and studying for high school entrance exams, which Usagi wasn't ready for. Hopefully she could cheat off of Ami.

"Do you really think it's over?" Usagi asked Mamoru as they left the park. "That there won't be a need for the Senshi or Tuxedo Kamen anymore?"

Mamoru had her smaller hand in his and gave it a squeeze. He was trying to be reassuring, but somehow, he doubted that Metalia was the only evil in the galaxy. "I think that we should enjoy the peace we have. Take it, use it. The galaxy is vast, if Metalia was out there, there's no telling what else there could be and we should always be prepared." Usagi's eyes were downcast, but Mamoru stopped and put his hand under her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. "Whatever's out there, we'll meet it head on. It can never defeat us."

Usagi's eyes widened and then she smiled at him. She reached up and brushed her hand against his cheek, and tilted her head to the side. "No, they'll never get us," she whispered.

Closing the gap between them, Mamoru leaned down and took Usagi's lips in his, kissing her passionately, letting her know how much he believed in her and he power. No one would break them, no one would take their world, their friends, their families. As they stood there, absorbed in each other, they let the world go around them and did just as Mamoru had suggested, they reveled in the peace of now.

Neither of them noticed the cloud that appeared overhead, or the little pink haired girl that was about to, literally, drop in on them.

The End.

Yes, now that IS where I'm ending it. No, I don't have plans to write a sequel. If I write one, I'll write one, but currently there is no plan. I don't have any plans, actually, so just keep your eyes peeled, you never know if I'll have a sudden hit of inspiration.

Thanks for sticking with me all this time!


End file.
